Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Biology Inspired Computational
Solutions for Enhancing Sensitivity
computer science. According to Zuanon (2012),
electrophysiological and electroencephalographic
activities, and other measures of brain functions,
serve as means to non-muscular channels of com-
munication for sending messages and commands
to the external world governed by the biology
of the users, without interrupting their activity.
Biosensors are used as input channels for galvanic
skin response sensor (measuring the electrical con-
ductance from skin), blood volume pulse sensor
(that uses photoplethysmography to detect existing
blood pressure), breathing sensor (monitoring the
individual's thorax or diaphragm activity), and
electromyogram sensor (that captures the electrical
activity produced by a muscle at the moment of
contraction). The physiological information of the
users acts as data to configure an interaction that
responds to their emotional state in order to match
the state of their body at that particular moment.
This enhances potential of individuals with social
and/or motor disabilities, severe muscle disorders
such as lateral amyotrophic sclerosis, cerebral
hemorrhage, and muscle damage. It also enables
applications in the areas of design, art, and games.
Within the scope of interaction with games, the
wearable computers, “BioBodyGame” (Zuanon &
Lima Jr., 2008) and “NeuroBodyGame” (Zuanon
& Lima Jr., 2010) created by artists and designers
Rachel Zuanon and Geraldo Lima, all allow the
users to interact with digital games through their
physiological and cerebral signals, respectively.
Animals are able to detect and locate many of
environmental changes, so the scientists are work-
ing on finding biology-inspired computational
solutions that improve our sensitivity and thus
our ability to control our external and internal
environment. For example, we apply echolocation,
ultrasound imaging, and gather thermal informa-
tion with which one can know, scanning from a
helicopter or a satellite whether an object on the
ground is alive, dead, or inanimate. Communica-
tion satellites include civilian and military Earth
observation satellites, weather satellites, research
satellites, GPS navigation satellites, space stations
and other spacecraft orbiting a planet. Researchers
and engineers use nano technologies for various
purposes: to attract, to repel, to cure, or to enhance
a feel of wellbeing. Research lines either aim to
enhance our senses with the use of applications
or to compensate for our lack of sensitivity to
signals. Within this spectrum, sensors inform us
about levels of substances that are crucial factors
in our metabolism such as glucose level in our
blood, or are vital components of our environ-
ment such as air pressure or information about
time and position.
Bio-interfaces and brain-computer interfaces
enable communication between humans and ma-
chines and/or humans-machines-humans (Zuanon,
2012). Bio-interfaces translate biological func-
tions into numerical data that can be interpreted
by computer systems. A brain-computer interface
transforms the electrophysiological signals of a
brain into the messages and commands, and pro-
duces movements associated with the hardware
and software that translates them into actions.
Bio-interfaces can be used as wearable devices
that provide organic interaction between man and
machine. This field of research involves different
fields of knowledge, such as neurobiology, psy-
chology, design, engineering, mathematics, and
Synesthesia
Human imagination may be somehow related to
synesthesia, a neurologically based condition that
results from merging of two or more sensory or
cognitive pathways. It happens when a sensory
stimulus received by one sense triggers percep-
tion and evokes involuntary experience in another
sense: one may taste some shapes or hear color.
For example, visual perception may involuntary
accompany sensations of taste, touch, pain, smell,
