H a n d b o o k f o r f a c i l i t a t o r s
Introduction
Reading the following you will get a picture of what this participatory arrangement is about and how you, a prospective facilitator, can aid participants to find their way with it.
Double Bubble is an environment where one mind and two bodies become one. The mind is that of the participant as is the first body, the second body is of a robot that Double Bubble provides. During the interactive experiment that we call a 'session', the robot becomes an extension of the participant's body. We call those members of the public who enter the bubble and experiment 'participants' and who aid the experiment 'facilitators'.
FernbotThis is one of our robots and we call it Fernbot because it has six legs with a fern planted on top. (Presenting the bare-bone version of Double Bubble, we always present Fernbot because while it is funny it does move very gracefully and it is our most versatile and developed one.) For the other robots see: http://db.c3.hu/files/robotics.html
Facilitators, we hope you will become one, introduce the environment to participants, by which, help to lower the relatively high threshold that such a technical environment with its machine interface has for the public.
Why we prefer facilitators to be female and in the midterm of pregnancy?
Because:
1. It is widely accepted and customary for women to work as hostesses or stewardesses, etc. so it is easily understood.
2. Hormonally and mentally you are strongly tuned to your condition that means for example that you move carefully protecting your body.
3. Visually your bellies are not yet as pronounced so the undertone of humor remains that, an undertone.
4. Being in the midterm of pregnancy you are still able to work for shorter periods without over exhaustion. There will be breaks between sessions!
And
5. Last but not least in you "the other's" presence is an undeniable bodily fact. In other words the 2 in 1 is a counter point to the 1 in 2, the later being one mind in two bodies.
Welcome on board!
The Tent
Double Bubble has the protective environment of a tent, which is approximately 6,5 meters long, 5 meters wide 3,5 meters high and it is made out of transparent plastic. A ventilator constantly blows air into the tent creating roughly 1,15 bar atmospheric pressure, which is the tent's sole structural support. A combination of water filled valve and about 25 bags containing roughly 1 metric ton of sand placed around the base perimeters keep the air pressure at the required level and the tent from rising off the ground. The tent shelters participants from passer-bys and enables them to focus easier. Remember with us it is harmless to become 1 with the robot!
In the bare-bone version we do not offer the protective tent we make do with local rooms and spaces.
The interface
Double Bubble supports a brain-machine interface that relies on Electroencephalography (from here on EEG1) measurements of the participant's brain activity. So participants need to be introduced to the EEG interface carefully, make them understand how this unfamiliar interface works and how they can be able to handle it.
Its workings can be approached in a simple manner: All brain activity is electrical to the extent that it can be measured as such so in order to be able to manipulate something via an EEG interface one has to manipulate one's mental processes, their associative fields and objects. Not to mention that one has to keep it up for a length of time. It is crucial for us since the EEG measurements create the ground of the experiment. But more about this "task" later.
1 The EEG measurements of the brain represent a summation of post-synaptic potentials from a large number of neurons (the electrically active brain cells). These are sometimes called brainwaves, though this use is discouraged, because the brain does not broadcast electrical waves. EEG is a brain function test, but in clinical use it is a "gross correlate of brain activity".
Foyer
Sessions
Info phase, Tune-in phase, Interaction phase.
Info phase
This phase starts with advertisements, invitations and/ or visiting this website. On location in the 'foyer' area which surrounds the tent or 'playground', the public can view several videos.
The first video is called 'Introduction' see: http://db.c3.hu/files/promo.html it welcomes you to board Double Bubble. The second is called 'Touchstone' it is a short video and presents you with the basics in attention architecture see: http://db.c3.hu/files/promo.html. The third and fourth videos are 'Neverland: Fernbot dancing' and 'Neverland: Poisebot dancing' they were made to be eye-catchers and serve only promotional purposes see: http://db.c3.hu/files/promo.html .
Participation is possible by appointment only. Either it is arranged on location and ahead of time by contacting a colleague in the foyer or via sending an email. There will always be two facilitators 1 to take care of preliminary info and timetables and 1 to help the experiment.
Strictly speaking sessions consist of the following two phases "Tune-in" and "Interaction". Usually a session lasts about 15 minutes. Between each session there is a 5-10 minutes break for you to relax.
When conducting sessions it is important to create a situation where the participant can focus and where by-standers do not interfere. When working in the tent it is a mater of simply zipping up the entrance door. When working without the tent by-standers have to be dealt with in a way which allows them to get a peek at what is going on yet it also makes them observe the participant's need for focus on experimentation. The moment to ask by-standers to withdraw is at your discretion and up to the situation taking the space and the public present into consideration. Nevertheless do ask them politely and firmly to withdraw!
Tune-in
During this phase, you ease the participant into the interaction by describing the workings of the EEG interface, familiarize them with the rest of the robotic environment and encourage trial runs.
A few things about the EEG measuring equipment, which is the tool by which Double Bubble interfaces the participant and the robot. And what you do with it. To take EEG measurements, you place 4 electrodes on the participant's forehead. 1 blue electrode goes on each side of the temple and 2 yellow ones go in the middle, above each other. The 5th red sensor, the ground, gets placed behind the participant's right ear.
It is important to know that these electrodes or gel sensors are passive devices they are "read-only". They do not "write", meaning they are absolutely non-invasive. The sensors are connected to a small unit that is placed on the arm does emit Bluetooth signals to forward the EEG measurements to the rest of DB just as a laptop does when it communicates for example with another laptop. You can rest assured about the harmlessness and safety of Bluetooth signals and answer all questions from nervous participants accordingly.
Sensor placement on forehead
As the placement of the sensors, on the picture above, already shows we concentrate on the prefrontal cortex (PC), which is located behind the forehead. PC has a high number of interconnections both between the brainstem's Reticular Activating System (RAS) and the limbic system. As a result, the centers in the PC depend significantly on high levels of alertness, and emotional linkages with deeper brain structures related to control, pleasure, pain, anger, rage, panic, aggression (fight-flight-freeze responses), and basic sexual responses. PC is also involved in conscious functions such as empathy, self-perception, and the ability to interact appropriately with others.
Prefrontal Cortex is lighter area
Once the sensors are in place open a new file in Bioexplorer, the software that is responsible for EEG and runs on a laptop. Bioexplorer does have 3D visualizations divided in two windows that show the sensor measurements of the left and right hemisphere. But while observing what goes on in those windows can be useful in so far as helping participants in how to manipulate their mental processes, they can also become distrating. So better keep the focus of attention on what has to happen.
Already in the Tune-in phase the rule applies that no speculative or art questions need to be answered or rather your reply has to directly pull away from interpretation and center on the interaction at hand, on how it functions and on how to enter into it.
The task
The "task" - if it is a task - for participants is to manipulate their mental processes so as to vary their EEG readings that connect them to the robot. Since the interaction between the participant and the robot is based on a connection via EEG in real time.
One of the easiest characteristics to learn to influence is the coherence between the brain activity of the right and left hemispheres. That is the grade of similarity of brain activity of the two hemispheres. The interface links robotic behavior to this in such a way that if there is a high degree of coherence and remains so for a while: the robot comes close and moves according to the participant's slow alpha waves. If coherence is low: the robot distances itself from the participant and moves nervously to and fro. If coherence value is indecisive the robot moves midfield and its gait becomes very slow.
Your first step is to observe if the participant realises that those form the basis and second to see how "ready" they are to take the challenge and experiment. Observe their questions and watch out for what they pay most attention to.
The different approaches participants have to the task:
For some - who are familiar with meditation, be that esoteric or just the comfort with technics of "daydreaming" - it will be perfectly self-evident how to get a grip on and alter their mental states. When you realize that you are "dealing" with such a person you can cut the Tune-in short and start the Interaction phase.
For others these processes might seem to be mystifying. You as a facilitator can help them by suggesting methods like not to "will" and try to stare the robot down and get fixated on that but rather to pick themes like counting sheep, reciting poetry or arithmetics.
If you want refer to the "counting sheep" visualization, which is a "known aid" to fall asleep, you can use the frequently encountered hint:
Don't think of sheep as they jump over the fence! That is too full of commotion! Instead why not think of sheep, lots and lots of them, already asleep, quietly and breathing in a slow rhythm as you are evenly gliding past! 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13…
Or when you see that more help is needed, tell a more gradual story to lead them in:
On the green slope, do you see them sheep, in a distance? There they are! Can you see them? Grazing slowly? Approaching slowly! (Don't ask: How many? If participant's response is slow. If he/ she is not going along. Just continue!) See them reaching the foot of the slope? (Nibble, nibble.) The grass is juicy and green there! And there is just so much of grass on that slope! All the little blades of green, green grass.( Nibble, nibble.) Now the sheep stop there they settle! Now approach them just softly! Don't stop, don't be shy, (stop counting)! Is it springtime? Is there a little one? Yes there, it also is settling down… Easy does it! …Next to a fern. Let it float off! No hurry, let it fall a sleep, but reach out gently, you can feel its soft white fur. See it snoozing it is by now. Feel the fur as it curls sweetly under your fingers!
Please note that the "sheep counting" story serves only as an example. You can change it as long as you don't scare them sheep off! You are also welcome to make a new one up. In any case, remember that help in this sense of you leading the way can only be given at the beginning of the Tune-in phase to encourage the participant to find out, remember, his/her own themes, methods of working their own mental processes. Latter especially during the Interaction phase you got to step back and let them go own their own.
Interaction phase
You can start this phase when you see that the participant is getting familiar enough with the environment has already gotten an idea of how it works. Remember some people need a gentle push to start on their own but never rush the process.
Select the robot the participant has chosen to experiment with on the screen and start it. In this phase you should figuratively speaking withdraw as much as possible from the playground, you can also literally change place and maybe posture. For example you may move a bit to the side or with very nervous people you might want to stay a bit closer but don't hold their hand! In any case do not turn away!
Let them submerge in their brainwaves. Unless, the participant falls a sleep in which case you better wake them up, after about 10 minutes the robot will sit down to signal the end of session.
At this point you have to save the EEG session file, remove the sensors and offer wet tissues to participants to wipe off any residue from sensors on their forehead.
Thank them for their participation and say See you again! As you let them out