The Talk@ DI of last February 7th, presented by Chen Wang, vice diretor at Future Media Convergence Institute (FMCI), Xinhua Net, China, was dedicated to the subject “Sensing a Live Audience”, with particular interest to Human Computer Interaction research area.

The invitation to provide a talk, made by Teresa Chambel , encompassed a visit by Chen Wang to the Informatics Department of FCUL dedicated to present the latest work in progress at FMCI.

Details:

“Sensing a Live Audience”
Chen Wang, Future Media Convergence Institute, Xinhua Net, China
Feb, 7th, 12hr, FCUL, 6.3.38

Abstract:
Psychophysiological measurement has the potential to play an important role in audience research. Currently, such research is still in its infancy and it usually involves collecting data in the laboratory, where during each experimental session one individual watches a video recording of a performance. We extend the experimental paradigm by simultaneously measuring Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) of a group of participants during a live performance. GSR data were synchronized with video footage of performers and audience. In conjunction with questionnaire data, this enabled us to identify a strongly correlated main group of participants, describe the nature of their theatre experience and map out a minute-by-minute unfolding of the performance in terms of psycho- physiological engagement. The benefits of our approach are twofold. It provides a robust and accurate mechanism for assessing a performance. Moreover, our infrastructure can enable, in the future, real-time feedback from remote audiences for online performances.

Short Bio:
Chen Wang is the vice director at Future Media Convergence Institute (FMCI), Xinhua Net, China. Her interest is on user experience by using wearables. She received the bachelor of science in telecommunication engineering from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications of China, and the master of science in electrical engineering from Delft University of Technology of the Netherlands. During her PhD study, Chen Wang shifted to physiological computing on user experience evaluation. Her research is unique, combining Human-Computer Interaction, data science, hardware design, and networking. Chen Wang has published her results in top venues like ACM CHI, ACM CSCW, NordiCHI, PhyCS, and QoMEX.

Chen Wang has rich experience on measuring group user experience by using physiological sensors. She designed and developed the different version of physiological sensors, which are suitable for simultaneously measuring group user experience in field studies, e.g., theaters, museum visitors, and learning environment. The self- developed sensors have two versions: adult and children, which have been extensively tested in theater performances, commercial dance events, and distributed learning environment. In 2017, Chen Wang joined FMCI of Xinhua Net and closely collaborated with creative industries. The collaboration resulted in several consultancy projects with giant companies in China, i.e., China National Theater, CCTV, and DiDi car sharing company.