Keynote presentation at Persuasive Technology 2017, Amsterdam http://persuasivetechnology.eu/

1. 1
Designing digital experiences for posi2ve change
Persuasive Technology 2017, Amsterdam
Posi%ve
Technology

2. 2
About me…
Associate Professor of General Psychology
Dept. of Psychology, Università CaColica, Milan, Italy
Senior Researcher, Is2tuto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
Posi%ve technology
Cyberpsychology & cybertherapy
Human-­‐computer interac%on
Interac%on design
@gag4all
www.posi2vetechnology.it
andrea.gaggioli@unicaC.it

3. 3
Contents
01 What is Posi-ve Technology?
02 Posi-ve technology in prac-ce
03 Future direc-ons

4. 4
What is Posi-ve Technology?
01
Get more global exposure
Self confidence is the first key

5. 5
Designing e-­‐experiences
for posi-ve change
• Posi2ve Technology aims at understanding
how interac2ve technologies can increase
people’s emo2onal, psychological and social
wellbeing
• It is all about designing digital experiences (e-­‐
experiences) that promote posi2ve personal
change
• Scien2fic findings from Posi2ve Psychology
can inform the design of new technology-­‐
based interven2ons that support posi2ve
emo2ons, flow, strengths and life meaning

6. 6
We are increasingly living in “digital ecosystems”
Computers have become a pervasive presence in our lives. The use of ICTs is not
limited to the long hours that we spend at the office. Our free 2me, too, has been
increasingly colonized by smartphones, tablets and wearable devices.
However…

7. 7
…is technology making us any happier?

8. 8
The challenge of Posi-ve Technology: can we design
digital experiences to foster posi-ve personal change?

9. 9
Posi-ve technology: an interdisciplinary journey
Posi2ve psychology
What are the
determinants of posi%ve
change and mental
wellbeing?
Interac2on design
How can we integrate
technology in wellbeing
interven%ons?
!
"
Neuroscience
What are the
neurocogni%ve changes
induced by posi%ve
experiences?
Art
What can we learn from art
in designing interac%ve
media that induce posi%ve
emo%onal experiences?
#

10. 10
Posi2ve emo2ons
Flow & engagement
$
%
Crea2vity
Mental prac2ce
&
'
Posi-ve technology: applica-ons
Social well-­‐being
(
Stress management
!
Gaggioli A, Riva G, Peters D, Calvo R. A. (in press). Posi%ve technology, compu%ng, and design: Shaping a future in which technology promotes psychological
wellbeing. In: Jeon M, (Ed.). Affec-ve sciences in human factors and human–computer interac-on. Amsterdam: Elsevier

11. 11
Posi-ve Technology in prac-ce
02
Get more global exposure
Self confidence is the first key

12. 12
The INTERSTRESS project
12
Interreality in the Management and
Treatment of Stress-­‐Related Disorders

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INTERSTRESS: posi-ve technologies for stress
assessment & management
Virtual Reality
Simulates stressful situa2ons
for teaching emo2onal coping
skills
Mobile apps
Help the par2cipant prac2cing
stress management
techniques on the go
Wearable sensors
Collect psycho-­‐physiological
data for objec2ve assessment
of stress
Machine learning
Develop personalized stress-­‐
management interven2ons based
on data collected in real life

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Stress: a modern pandemic

15. 15
Even minor daily stressors have a nega-ve
impact on health…
There is a causal rela-onship between chronic
stress and physical and psychological disorders
Increased risk is not only associated with severe
stressors, but also with minor daily stressors

16. 16
Key challenges in the treatment of stress
Pa#ent
may
be
not
aware
of
the
issue
or
may
have
problems
in
discussing
it
Talking is not
enough
It
is
related
to
personal,
emo#onal
and
social
issues
Assessment of acute
stress is difficult
Pa#ent
may
be
aware
of
the
problems
but
lack
the
skills
to
solve
them
Knowing is not
doing
? ? ?

17. 17
Key challenges in the treatment of stress
Pa#ent
may
be
not
aware
of
the
issue
or
may
have
problems
in
discussing
it
Talking is not
enough
It
is
related
to
personal,
emo#onal
and
social
issues
Assessment of acute
stress is difficult
Pa#ent
may
be
aware
of
the
problems
but
lack
the
skills
to
solve
them
Knowing is not
doing
? ? VR
simula#ons
of
stressful
situa#ons
offer
controlled
emo#onal
experiences
that
can
be
used
to
assess
and
empower
the
pa#ent
Virtual Reality

18. 18Virtual stressful scenarios
for assessment and training
To validate the concept, we developed VR-­‐stressful scenarios for
two user popula-ons: teachers and nurses

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Example of virtual stressful situa-ons
Gaggioli A., et al. (2014) Experien-al Virtual Scenarios With Real-­‐Time Monitoring (Interreality) for the Management of Psychological Stress:
A Block Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2014); 16(7):e167

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Virtual stressful situa-ons: the “making of”
20
Videos were recorded with real actors in professional studios
and then imported into the virtual environment using NeuroVR
Watch demo: hdps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUlQ0JH6awI

21. 21Automa-c stress detec-on from cardio-­‐
respiratory ac-vity during VR exposure
Tartarisco G., Carbonaro N., Tonacci A., Bernava G. M., Arnao A., Crifaci G., Cipresso P., Riva G., Gaggioli A., De Rossi D., Tognej A., Pioggia G. Neuro-­‐
Fuzzy Physiological Compu-ng to Assess Stress Levels in Virtual Reality Therapy. Interac%ng with Computers (2015) 27 (5):521-­‐533.

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Tartarisco G., Carbonaro N., Tonacci A., Bernava G. M., Arnao A., Crifaci G., Cipresso P., Riva G., Gaggioli A., De Rossi D., Tognej A., Pioggia G. (2015)
Neuro-­‐Fuzzy Physiological Compu-ng to Assess Stress Levels in Virtual Reality Therapy. Interac%ng with Computers. DOI:10.1093/iwc/iwv010
Automa-c stress detec-on from
cardio-­‐respiratory ac-vity during VR exposure

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Giakoumis D, Drosou A, Cipresso P, Tzovaras D, Gaggioli, A. et al. (2012) Using Ac-vity-­‐Related Behavioural
Features towards More Effec-ve Automa-c Stress Detec-on. PLoS ONE 7(9): e43571
Kinect-­‐based recogni-on of
stress-­‐related gestures

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Key challenges in the treatment of stress
Pa#ent
may
be
not
aware
of
the
issue
or
may
have
problems
in
discussing
it
Talking is not
enough
It
is
related
to
personal,
emo#onal
and
social
issues
Assessment of acute
stress is difficult
Pa#ent
may
be
aware
of
the
problems
but
lack
the
skills
to
solve
them
Knowing is not
doing
?
Virtual Reality
The
use
of
mobile
phones
and
wearable
biosensors
allow
automa#c
monitoring
stress
in
naturalis#c
environments
Personal biomonitoring
VR
simula#ons
of
stressful
situa#ons
offer
controlled
emo#onal
experiences
that
can
be
used
to
assess
and
empower
the
pa#ent

25. 25
Real-­‐-me stress monitoring in naturalis-c environments
02
03
04
01
Feature
extrac-on
HR sensor
Stress
monitoring
Gaggioli A., Pioggia G., Tartarisco G., Baldus G., Corda D., Cipresso P., Riva G. (2013) A mobile data collec-on plaporm for mental health research.
Personal and Ubiquitous Compu%ng. 17 (2), pp. 241-­‐251.
Stress level
(feedback)
Computa-on
of stress levels

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Key challenges in the treatment of stress
Pa#ent
may
be
not
aware
of
the
issue
or
may
have
problems
in
discussing
it
Talking is not
enough
It
is
related
to
personal,
emo#onal
and
social
issues
Assessment of acute
stress is difficult
Pa#ent
may
be
aware
of
the
problems
but
lack
the
skills
to
solve
them
Knowing is not
doing
Virtual Reality Personal biomonitoring
Using
mobile
apps
it
is
possible
to
provide
the
pa#ent
with
stress-­‐
management
tools,
such
as
guided
relaxa#on
and
biofeedback
Real-­‐-me support
The
use
of
mobile
phones
and
wearable
biosensors
allow
automa#c
monitoring
stress
in
naturalis#c
environments
VR
simula#ons
of
stressful
situa#ons
offer
controlled
emo#onal
experiences
that
can
be
used
to
assess
and
empower
the
pa#ent

27. 27
Mobile relax & 3D biofeedback:
The Posi%ve Technology* app
While exploring a 3D virtual island,
the user can learn relaxa-on skills by
visualizing the signals from his/her
own body (HR)
Screenshot of Posi%ve Technology app
for 3D biofeedback & guided relaxa-on
*WSA-­‐mobile Winner in the category: m-­‐Environment & Health

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Randomized controlled trial:
INTERSTRESS vs CBT vs no-­‐treatment
Nurses (N=60) Teachers (N=61)
Gaggioli A., et al. (2014). Experien-al Virtual Scenarios With Real-­‐Time Monitoring (Interreality) for the Management of Psychological
Stress: A Block Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2014); 16(7):e167

29. 29
RCT: Consort chart
Pallavicini et al. Trials 2013, 14:191. ClinicalTrials.gov iden-fier: NCT01683617

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• Both treatments (CBT and INTERSTRESS) were able to significantly
reduce perceived stress (with a beCer outcome for INTERSTRESS)
• Only par2cipants who received INTERSTRESS reported a significant
reduc2on (17% vs 0.5%) in chronic “trait” anxiety
• Par2cipants who received INTERSTRESS reported a significant greater
increase (14% vs 0.3%) in the Emo%onal Support than CBT
Key findings
Gaggioli A., et al. (2014) Experien-al Virtual Scenarios With Real-­‐Time Monitoring (Interreality) for the Management of Psychological
Stress: A Block Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research (2014); 16(7):e167

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Future direc-ons: Transforma-ve experience design
03
Get more global exposure
Self confidence is the first key

32. 32
The transforma-ve power of awe and wonder
Most experiences of everyday life are mundane and tend to be repeated over 2me. However, in
addi2on to these ordinary moments, there exists a special category of experiences – transforma5ve
experiences – which can result in profound and longlas2ng restructura2on of our worldview.
A common characteris2c of these “peak” experiences is that they ogen involve deep feelings of
awe, a complex emo2on in which fear is blended with astonishment, admira2on and wonder.

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The psychological dimensions of awe
Vastness
• anything experienced as being much larger than the self/
the self’s ordinary frame of reference
• e.g. physical size, social size, or cogni-ve ‘grandeur‘
Need for Accomoda-on
• challenge to (or nega-on of) mental structures
• aden-on focused on devia-ons from exis-ng schemas
• crea-on of new (or upda-ng of old) schemas
Keltner, D., Haidt, J. (2003). Approaching Awe. Cogni%on and Emo%on
17(2) 297-­‐314.

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• Binds us to others (Piff et al., 2015)
• Expands our percep-on of -me (Rudd et al., 2012)
• Elicits spiritual beliefs (Van Cappellen & Saroglou, 2013)
• Enhances the immune response (Stellar et al., 2015)
Awe boosts mental and
physical wellbeing

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Can we use technology to induce awe?

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Chirico A., Yaden D.B., Riva G., Gaggioli A. (2016) The Poten-al of Virtual Reality for the Inves-ga-on of Awe. Fron%ers in Psychology 7:1766. 10.3389/
fpsyg.2016.01766
VR
AWE
CONTENT
PRESENCE
HIGHEST
INTENSITY
AWE
Our hypothesis: VR may be a poten-ally effec-ve medium
for inducing more intense feelings of awe in the lab

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Comparing effec-veness of
3D-­‐ and 2D-­‐videos in awe induc-on
PARTICIPANTS: 42 university students (gender-­‐balanced)
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: 2 (3D vs 2D video) X 2 (awe vs neutral content)
MEASURES:
Psychological: self-­‐reported awe; presence (ITC-­‐SOPI)
Physiological: HR, GSR, Zygoma-c and Corrugator muscular ac-vity
NEUTRAL

38. 38Results: self-­‐reported measures Awe
Vastness
Need for
accomoda-on
Chirico, A., Cipresso, P., Yaden, D., Biassoni, F., Riva, G., Gaggioli, A. (in press). Effec-veness of Immersive Videos in Inducing Awe: An Experimental
Study”. Scien%fic Reports (Nature Publishing Group).

39. 39Results: physiological measures HF Total Power of HRV
LF Total Power of HRV
Chirico, A., Cipresso, P., Yaden, D., Biassoni, F., Riva, G., Gaggioli, A. (in press). Effec-veness of Immersive Videos in Inducing Awe: An Experimental
Study”. Scien%fic Reports (Nature Publishing Group).

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Poten-al applica-ons
• VR could be used to design awe-­‐based
experien2al training for applica2ons in
wellbeing, empowerment and
educa2on
• For example, we have found that VR-­‐
induced awe can boost crea2vity
performance (currently under
submission)

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Thank you!
Posi-ve Technology: designing digital experiences for posi-ve change. Persuasive Technology 2017, Amsterdam.