Judith Ley-Flores
Laia is an Interaction Design researcher. Her research explores how interactive technologies can be designed and used to affect people’s sensorimotor experiences of themselves and others, particularly in contexts of health and wellbeing.
José M. Vega-Cebrián
José M. (Sejo) Vega-Cebrián (pronouns: they/them, he/him) is a movement and computing researcher-designer and a PhD student in Computer Science and Technology. They are currently researching and developing Playful Wearables and Augmented Technologies for Body Experiences, Rehabilitation and Physical Training.
Laura Alonso Alonso
AQU Associate Professor with a PhD in AI. He specialises in Deep Learning, Complex Systems Modelling, and Unconventional Computing. He joined UOC (Barcelona, Spain) as a postdoctoral researcher in 2018 to develop XAI models for use in affective computing and human well-being.
Laia Turmo Vidal
AQU Associate Professor with a PhD in AI. He specialises in Deep Learning, Complex Systems Modelling, and Unconventional Computing. He joined UOC (Barcelona, Spain) as a postdoctoral researcher in 2018 to develop XAI models for use in affective computing and human well-being.
Marte Roel
A short hundred-word long biography is welcoming of song. With some pain, I too have realized to be short to the eyes of some. But not of all. Hereby enlisting words resonant with my identity —as if it was easy to hold, to capture. Performing as an expert in cognitive “neuro” stuff.
Amar D´adamo
Electronic engineer specialised in DSP, telecommunications and IoT, worked as a developer in an renewable energy equipment company finally found his path in this incredible team in UC3M. BODYinTRANSIT is a challenging project with appealing thematics, and a bunch of insights continuously updating interests and one’s own knowledge. Aiming to personal growth, an academic career and to contribute to the project in a smart way.
Joaquín R. Díaz Durán
He holds a PhD in Research in Humanities, Arts and Education from the UCLM (Spain). From his research he has developed, together with an interdisciplinary team, the project Interfaz Cíborg, an interactive device to reflect the relationships among art, technology and body in the performance.
Ana Tajadura-Jiménez
Self-perception, embodiment, human multisensory perception and emotion in everyday contexts and
new media technologies.
MagicOutFit
Changing body perception through wearable technology and sensory feedback to promote emotional and physical health. 2020-2023 MAGICoutFIT is a research project funded by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación and the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Grant PID2019-105579RB-I00). magicoutfit.com RESEARCHERS Ana Tajadura-JiménezMilagrosa Sánchez MartínMercedes Bordá MásFrancisco José CuadradoLize De CosterJudith Guadalupe Ley FloresAlfredo MirallesLuis MoralesSergio Navas LeónFrédéric BevilacquaNadia Bianchi-BerthouzeKristi KuuskAneesha SinghAleksander Väljamäe RESULTS Negative body perceptions are a serious problem in our society. They are increasing and affect many people in Europe and world-wide. They impact on emotional, social, and motor functioning, are present in many clinical conditions, and are among the most consistent predictors of many (un)healthy behaviors. Hence, to promote healthy behaviors, it is important to make people feel good about their bodies. Remarkably, neuroscientific breakthroughs have shown that people’s body perceptions can be changed via specially designed sensory feedback. This opens a unique opportunity to address negative mental body representations and impact positively on health. The MagicOutFit project follows a novel approach which consists of using sensory feedback to alter the way people perceive their body in order to drive positive changes in emotional and physical health in populations with body concerns. The project investigates the most effect sensory feedback to address individual body concerns, such as concerns with body appearance (such as body size or shape) and of body capabilities (such as agility or strength). The potential benefits of the MagicOutFit technology will be evaluated in non-clinical and clinical populations with different body concerns, including professional dancers, physically inactive people and populations with eating disorders. MagicOutFit is an international and multidisciplinar project, which brings together researchers from 4 different European countries, from the areas of Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Human-Computer Interaction and real-life applications for health. In MagicOutFit we are developing wearable technology that integrates body-sensing and sensory feedback tailored to alter specific qualities of body perception, according to user needs, and suitable for use in real-life conditions (for instance, outdoors, home). We will iteratively redesign our technology to match emergent needs and uses, following the concept of an outfit that helps to keep emotionally and physically FIT. We envision that MagicOutFit will guide the design of new body-centred technologies to enhance the positivity towards one’s body that can revolutionize therapies and self-management of negative body perceptions. INSTITUTIONS FUNDING The MAGIC outFIT project is funded by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ (project PID2019-105579RB-I00). Magic Outfit Foto de Antonio Caballero Participant’s arm raise movement tested in an experiment Magic shoes, that change people’s body perceptions Body maps used to capture people’s body sensations when using soniband Spectogram of the “water” sound used in our experiments A prototype delivering haptic feedback to the back Soniband, sonifying body movement Ana Tajadura-Jiménez explaining the research project Sergio Navas presenting results from the project
BODYinTRANSIT
Sensory-driven Body Transformation Experiences On-the-move. 2022-2026 BODYinTRANSIT is a research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101002711)and led by Prof. Ana Tajadura-Jiménez. It will run within the Department of Computer Science Department at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain. It was selected as 1 of the 8 ERC Consolidator Grant project examples 2020. bodyintransit.eu RESEARCHERS Ana Tajadura-JiménezJoaquín R. Díaz DuránMarte RoelLaia Turmo VidalMohammad Mahdi DehshibiLaura AlonsoAmar D’AdamoJosé Manuel Vega Cebrián Daniel de la Prida CaballeroElena Márquez SeguraLuis Antonio Azpicueta RuizFernando Díaz de MaríaÁngel Sánchez SánchezAlfredo Miralles RESULTS Our physical body is the interface between ourselves and the world around us. The way we perceive our body, its appearance, configuration and motor abilities shapes our behaviour, emotion and social functioning. New sensor-based and bodily sensory feedback devices, such as those brought by immersive virtual reality, allow creating Body Transformation Experiences (BTE). These perceptual illusions, like being in a child’s body, lead to experience changes in one’s own body. Beyond fun experiences, the new field of BTE engineering brings a significant leap for wellbeing and health applications, as well as for the embodiment of robotic devices and virtual avatars, and smart clothing. However, the neuroscience of core sensory-driven changes in Mental Body Representations currently represents piecemeal experiments in very controlled settings that restrict body movement. This hinders the transfer of the basic principles discovered to real-world complex environments and practical problems. Through systematic and iterative research, the project BODYinTRANSIT will establish a theoretical ‘BTE design framework’ for individualized sensorial manipulation of mental body representations with long-lasting effects in everyday use contexts. The framework will stand on four scientific pillars to induce, measure, support, personalize and preserve body transformations: 1) neuroscience of multisensory body perception, 2) data modelling of the links between body-representation, behaviour, emotion and social functioning, 3) wearable-based embodied multisensory interaction design, and 4) field studies in real-life and on-the-move contexts with physically inactive users, somatic practitioners and users with body image concerns. Tangible outcomes will include design principles, data formats, models, measures and paradigms enabling and guiding BTE engineering innovations. BODYinTRANSIT envisions personalized BTE technologies able to measure MBR and adapt bodily sensory feedback to modify it – individually, online and while on-the-move. FUNDING “This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101002711)“. As Light as Your Footsteps i_mBODY As Light as Your Footsteps AS LIGHT AS YOUR FOOTSTEPS: DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF A PORTABLE DEVICE FOR CHANGING BODY PERCEPTION THROUGH A SOUND ILLUSION Magic shoes, that change people’s body perceptions Device with accelerometer sensor for gathering movement data. Inner Fashion. Belt Device with accelerometer sensor for gathering movement data Vibrant. Haptic Device Device for haptic feedback based on vibrations Magic Socks Intelligent shoes for the sonification of footsteps Concept- As Light as Your Footsteps Intelligent shoes for the sonification of footsteps Photos by Antonio Caballero and i_mBODY lab