CHILLER: a Computer Human Interface for the Live Labeling of Emotional Responses

Claire Pelofi, Michal Goldstein, Dana Bevilacqua, Michael McPhee, Ellie Abrams, and Pablo Ripollés

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

• Year: 2021
• Location: Shanghai, China
• Article Number: 58
• DOI: 10.21428/92fbeb44.5da1ca0b (Link to paper)
• PDF link
• Presentation Video

Abstract:

The CHILLER (a Computer-Human Interface for the Live Labeling of Emotional Responses) is a prototype of an affordable and easy-to-use wearable sensor for the real-time detection and visualization of one of the most accurate biomarkers of musical emotional processing:  the piloerection of the skin (i.e., the goosebumps) that accompany musical chills (also known as musical frissons or shivers down the spine). In controlled laboratory experiments, electrodermal activity (EDA) has been traditionally used to measure fluctuations of musical emotion. EDA is, however, ill-suited for real-world settings (e.g., live concerts) because of its sensitivity to movement, electronic noise and variations in the contact between the skin and the recording electrodes. The CHILLER, based on the Raspberry Pi architecture, overcomes these limitations by using a well-known algorithm capable of detecting goosebumps from a video recording of a patch of skin. The CHILLER has potential applications in both academia and industry and could be used as a tool to broaden participation in STEM, as it brings together concepts from experimental psychology, neuroscience, physiology and computer science in an inexpensive, do-it-yourself device well-suited for educational purposes.

Citation:

BibTeX Entry:

  @inproceedings{NIME21_58,
 abstract = {The CHILLER (a Computer-Human Interface for the Live Labeling of Emotional Responses) is a prototype of an affordable and easy-to-use wearable sensor for the real-time detection and visualization of one of the most accurate biomarkers of musical emotional processing:  the piloerection of the skin (i.e., the goosebumps) that accompany musical chills (also known as musical frissons or shivers down the spine). In controlled laboratory experiments, electrodermal activity (EDA) has been traditionally used to measure fluctuations of musical emotion. EDA is, however, ill-suited for real-world settings (e.g., live concerts) because of its sensitivity to movement, electronic noise and variations in the contact between the skin and the recording electrodes. The CHILLER, based on the Raspberry Pi architecture, overcomes these limitations by using a well-known algorithm capable of detecting goosebumps from a video recording of a patch of skin. The CHILLER has potential applications in both academia and industry and could be used as a tool to broaden participation in STEM, as it brings together concepts from experimental psychology, neuroscience, physiology and computer science in an inexpensive, do-it-yourself device well-suited for educational purposes.},
 address = {Shanghai, China},
 articleno = {58},
 author = {Pelofi, Claire and Goldstein, Michal and Bevilacqua, Dana and McPhee, Michael and Abrams, Ellie and Ripollés, Pablo},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.21428/92fbeb44.5da1ca0b},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {June},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/JujnpqoSdR4},
 title = {CHILLER: a Computer Human Interface for the Live Labeling of Emotional Responses},
 url = {https://nime.pubpub.org/pub/kdahf9fq},
 year = {2021}
}