Typically developing humans innately place subjective value on social information and orient attention to it. This can be shown through eye tracking and pupillometry, a method used to show attentional engagement. Social brain development and social preference is present from infancy, and is thought to rely on a carefully balanced network of neurotransmitters and neural connections. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) presents altered neural systems which cause individuals to perceive and process social information differently, but the neurophysiology of this difference remains unclear. Previous research shows atypical gaze patterns, hyperarousal, and lack of orienting to social stimuli in ASD. Since autism is highly comorbid and shares traits with other neurodevelopmental disorders, it is difficult to distinguish aspects of these social processing differences. This study used a group of 35 neuropsychiatric patients to investigate how individuals with autism process social and non-social scenes. Eye tracking and pupillometry measures were collected while participants observed images of natural scenes with or without a person. Participants with autism did not show a pupillary response to social images and were slower to fixate on the face  region than the other participants. Additionally there were correlations between clinical measures of social functioning and the length of time it took to fixate to faces. The results highlight important distinctions of social processing in autism. This thesis proposes a new perspective of looking at the social deficits present in autism spectrum disorder. It suggests reframing the current discussion from two leading hypotheses to a unified approach and formally considering the limitations of differing types of stimuli.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2003-03-25Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:22:03Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_act_dr_assis.pdf: 677283 bytes, checksum: 2acf15ba085f935eb343791f52215f9e (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Este trabalho se fundamenta na importância crescente das imagens no século vinte, as quais podem ser entendidas em duplo sentido: como estimulantes dos olhares e como aparências investidas de potencial comunicativo. É privilegiado o uso que a mídia efetuou do universo do olhar. As imagens, em sua ambigüidade, são instrumentos adequados ao uso publicitário em um século em que, paulatinamente, a notícia e a informação são consideradas mercadorias pelos grandes grupos de comunicação. As fontes da pesquisa são as capas de revistas brasileiras de sucesso de mercado. O mercado da informação está fundamentalmente ligado ao exercício da política, eis porque o período de análise corresponde ao final da década de sessenta (início da censura governamental à imprensa) e da década de oitenta (primeira eleição direta para presidente da República após o fim da censura), sendo lícito questionar de que forma a comunicação foi empreendida enquanto entrávamos e saíamos da ditadura militar. As capas são signos do funcionamento da chamada grande imprensa e, ao mesmo tempo, são signos de um olhar que se estrutura no decorrer do século: olhar que busca informação rápida e concisa. Estratégias comuns utilizadas nas imagens de capa são analisadas, como o uso dos códigos das cores e das expressões corporais, assim como os temas que tiveram destaque nas capas das revistas e que mostram a constituição de sentidos propostos à massa de fatos que os próprios meios de comunicação oferecem. As sínteses compostas em imagens estabelecem pautas de discussões, tornando-as importantes e exercendo um poder excludente. As capas das... / The thesis is based on the increasing importance of pictures in the 20th century. Pictures may be understood as (1) gaze stimulating and as (2) appearances charged with communicative potentiality. The use that the media make of the gaze is extremely conspicuous. Even in their ambiguity, pictures are veritable publicity instruments in a century during which news and information became gradually commercial goods in the hands of great communication groups. Our research sources are covers of best selling Brazilian magazines. Since the information market is intimately linked to politics and the analyzed period ranges from the late 60s (the starting point of press censorship by the government) to the late 80s (the first true election for the presidency of Brazil after censorship), it is important to problematize the communication theme as Brazil alternated from censorship and dictatorship to democracy. Magazine covers are performance signs of the big press and, at the same time, of the gaze structuring itself throughout the century: the gaze that seeks precise and fast information. Common strategies in magazine covers, uses of color, body expression codes, underlined themes which show the constitution of meanings suggested to the great amount of photos by the same communication media, are analyzed. Picture-composed synthesis establishes discussions, giving great importance to pictures since they exercise an excluding stance. Magazine covers allure the magazines' target public, or consumers. Beneath the magazines' syntheses lie... (Complete abstract, click electronic access below)

abstract: Social gaze-following consists of both reflexive and volitional control mechanisms of saccades, similar to those evaluated in the antisaccade task. This similarity makes gaze-following an ideal medium for studying attention in a social context. The present study seeks to utilize reflexive gaze-following to develop a social paradigm for measuring attention control. Two gaze-following variations of the antisaccade task are evaluated. In version one, participants are cued with still images of a social partner looking either left or right. In version two, participants are cued with videos of a social partner shifting their gaze to the left or right. As with the traditional antisaccade task, participants are required to look in the opposite direction of the target stimuli (i.e., gaze cues). Performance on the new gaze-following antisaccade tasks is compared to the traditional antisaccade task as well as the highly related ability of working memory. / Dissertation/Thesis / html file of analyses script / R Rmd file of analyses script / Masters Thesis Psychology 2018

Cette thèse de doctorat a pour but d’analyser les relations entre le texte et l’image dans trois romans de Siri Hustvedt : The Blindfold (1992) What I Loved (2003) et The Blazing World (2014). L'auteur introduit dans ses récits de nombreuses et longues ekphraseis qui saturent visuellement le texte. Les œuvres d'art décrites, majoritairement fictives, font appel à des techniques et des médiums variés (peinture, photographie, installation, vidéo). L'auteur invente des œuvres d'art qui évoluent au fur et à mesure des romans, passant de deux dimensions à trois dimensions et d'images fixes à des images animées. Cette étude s'intéresse à la fonction de l'introduction de l'image dans le roman et interroge l'impact de cet événement de lecture sur le lecteur. Dans chaque roman, la rencontre entre le « narrateur-voyeur » et l'œuvre d'art suscite un plaisir esthétique, voire sensuel. Les jeux de miroirs et de masques auxquels prennent part les personnages les mettent parfois en danger. Aveuglés ou pris au piège de leur propre perception, la confrontation avec l'œuvre d'art entraîne alors une perte de contrôle et une aliénation. Une participation active est demandée au lecteur, qui atteint un paroxysme dans The Blazing World. / The aim of this thesis is to study the relations between word and image in three of Siri Hustvedt’s novels: The Blindfold (1992) What I Loved (2003) and The Blazing World (2014). Hustvedt’s works of fiction contain many long ekphraseis – the result is the “pictorial” saturation of the literary text. The works of art described are mainly fictitious and make reference to a wide variety of techniques and mediums (painting, photography, installation, video). The author invents works of art that progressively evolve from two-dimensions to three-dimensions and from still image to moving image. This thesis examines the function of the insertion of these images in the literary text and questions the impact of this event on the reader/viewer. In each novel, the encounter between the “narrator-viewer” and the works of art leads to an aesthetic or a sensual pleasure. The characters take part in mirror and mask games that can put them in danger. The confrontation with the work of art results in a loss of control and a form of alienation when the characters are symbolically blind or trapped by their own perceptions. The reader’s active participation reaches a climax in The Blazing World.

Gaze tracking is the estimation of the point in space a person is “looking at”. This is widely used in both diagnostic and interactive applications, such as visual attention studies and human-computer interaction. The most common commercial solution used to track gaze today uses a combination of infrared illumination and one or more cameras. These commercial solutions are reliable and accurate, but often expensive. The aim of this thesis is to construct a simple single-camera gaze tracker from off-the-shelf components. The method used for gaze tracking is based on infrared illumination and a schematic model of the human eye. Based on images of reflections of specific light sources in the surfaces of the eye the user’s gaze point will be estimated. Evaluation is also performed on both the software and hardware components separately, and on the system as a whole. Accuracy is measured in spatial and angular deviation and the result is an average accuracy of approximately one degree on synthetic data and 0.24 to 1.5 degrees on real images at a range of 600 mm.

Cette thèse de doctorat n’a pas visé à établir « le » sens du texte. Au contraire, elle a cherché à concevoir le pluriel du texte par l’intermédiaire du concept lacanien d’objet a (objet petit a). Ce dernier ne peut être saisi que par l’intermédiaire de ses effets. En tant qu’objets partiels, la voix, le regard et le style sont des figurations métonymiques de l’objet a.Certes, il est patent que le concept d’objet a a constitué l’ossature logique de nos analyses littéraires, mais ces analyses ont été tout sauf pures. Assurément, nous nous sommes fréquemment référés à des concepts psychanalytiques, toutefois nous nous sommes souvent permis d’orienter nos recherches vers d’autres approches (philosophique, générique, idéologique, structurale, rythmique, stylistique, etc.).L’étude des Trois Contes de Gustave Flaubert et les Tales of Unrest de Joseph Conrad nous a donné l’occasion de mettre au jour l’existence de deux forces : d’une part, la force qui concerne la parole, l’œil et le style comme objet du désir de maîtrise de l’écrivain-artisan ; d’autre part, la force qui relève de la voix, du regard et du style comme « signifiance », c’est-à-dire comme « travail radical (il ne laisse rien intact) à travers lequel le sujet explore comment la langue le travaille et le défait dès lors qu’il y entre ». / This doctoral thesis has not aimed at establishing “the” meaning of the text. On the contrary, it has sought to conceive the plurality of the text through Lacan’s concept of objet petit a (object small a). The latter can be grasped only through its effects. As part-objects, voice, gaze, and style are metonymic figurations of objet petit a.Admittedly, it is patently obvious that the object a has constituted the logical framework of our literary analyses, but these analyses have been anything but pure ones. Of course, we have frequently referred to psychoanalytic concepts, however, we have often permitted ourselves to orient our investigation towards other approaches (philosophical, generic, ideological, structural, rhythmical, stylistic etc.).The study of two collection of tales by two different authors – Trois Contes by Gustave Flaubert and Joseph Conrad’s Tales of Unrest – has been the occasion to bring to light the existence of two forces: on the one hand, the force which concerns speech, eye, and style as the object of the desire of the writer as a craftsman, and, on the other, the force which pertains to voice, gaze, and style as a signifying production (signifiance), i.e. as “radical work (which leaves nothing intact) through which the subject explores how language works him and undoes him as soon as he stops observing it and enters it”.

O impacto visual é importante tanto nos modos de construções de sentidos nas tradições bantas quanto no contexto umbandista. E a contribuição da cultura africana na composição do ethos da população brasileira é expressiva. Tendo isso em vista, objetivou-se apreender, em comunidades umbandistas, nuances dos modos de construção, transmissão e apreensão de significados relativos ao mundo, ao eu e ao outro, por meio de perspectivas umbandistas de articulação do sentido. Para tanto, o pesquisador assumiu uma posição em que foi possível uma função de abertura ao discurso do Outro, proporcionando que as enunciações decorrentes das relações em campo pudessem ecoar. No processo de experiência do pesquisador em rituais umbandistas e na produção das imagens fotográficas, os colaboradores enunciaram, por imagens e ou palavras, suas experiências pessoais a partir do material simbólico contido no patrimônio cultural que os atravessa, que Lacan chamaria de Outro. A consideração da transferência e do lugar ocupado pelo pesquisador em campo, assim como das repetições e intersecções entre as imagens e os dizeres sobre elas, foi fundamental para a revelação de implícitos deste universo. A busca pelo impacto visual configurou o meio para que o pesquisador, interpretado pela umbanda como consulente, pudesse ser olhado por ela e assim, olhando-a, entender parte de sua dinâmica. Nesse processo, entendemos como o olhar é importante na reelaboração de si (do lugar no mundo de cada um, assim como de uma comunidade) a qual pode ser trabalhada no contexto umbandista, onde o papel do ancestral e todo um repertório simbólico a ele associado têm destaque. A partir dos resultados deste trabalho, sugerimos que a experiência na umbanda corrobora a hipótese de que é preciso conhecer, reconhecer e lidar de forma pacífica com as nossas raízes. Percebemos, ainda, que nessa religião há um espaço privilegiado onde isso possa ocorrer a cada ritual, e nas experiências cotidianas de seus fiéis, possibilitando recombinações e reconstruções simbólicas tanto no nível pessoal quanto social. / Visual impact is important not only to the ways in which banto traditions are built but also to the umbandista context. And the African culture contribution in constituting the Brazilian populations ethos is expressive as well. Having that in mind, we aimed to apprehend, in umbandista communities, nuances of how meanings related to the world, the self, and the other are constructed, transmitted and understood through umbandista perspectives of significance articulation. In order to do that, the researcher assumed a position where an openness function to the Others speech was possible, which has permitted the echoing of enunciations that arose from field relations. Within the process of the researchers experience in umbadista rituals and in photographic image production, the collaborators enounced their personal experiences through images and/or words, from the symbolic material present in the cultural heritage they carry, which Lacan would denominate the Other. Considering the transference and the position occupied by the researcher in field as well as the repetitions and the intersections between the images and the sayings about them was central to expose the implicitness of this universe. The search for visual impact has been the instrument elected by the researcher who, interpreted by umbanda as a consultant, could be seen by it and thus, looking at it, be able to understand part of its dynamic. During the process, we have understood how important the gaze is in oneselfs remodeling (of each ones as well as a communitys position in the world), and that it can be developed in the umbandista context where the ancestors role and a whole symbolic repertoire related to it are highlighted. As from the results of this research, we suggest that the experience in umbanda corroborates the hypothesis that it is necessary to know, recognize and deal peacefully with our roots. We have also observed that there is a privileged space in this religion where that demand may occur in each of its rituals and in its participants daily experiences, in a way that symbolic re-combinations and reconstructions are possible both in personal and social levels.

Utiliser un zoom pour donner l’apparence du travelling est une illusion d’ordre perceptif, c’est pourquoi je voudrai penser le zoom comme le passage d’une image à l’agrandissement (ou rétrécissement) de cette même image. Il est fondamentalement une image d’image qui s’évaluera à l’aune de nouveaux concepts que sont le centrement, la mobilité du surcadre virtuel, la durée descriptive et l’aplanissement. Dans une problématique de la duplication, le rapport entre l’image et son référent sera à questionner : l’image du zoom sera semblante ou ressemblante car elle tire sa qualité de l’écart qui se creuse entre l’image et son image initiale. Elle engendre un centre imaginaire comme fiction ou au contraire une empreinte du réel. C’est en ce sens que le zoom crée des images, des images qui nous regardent et en retour nous donnent conscience de notre propre regard. Souvenons nous de Brunelleschi et de son expérience par effet de miroir qui fit que l’homme se voyait regardé par son propre regard au "fond" d’un tableau en perspective, dans l’ouverture de cette porte qui aspire le regard et renvoie le peintre dans un face à face avec son double, son image. Le zoom, à l’instar de la perspective est aussi une métaphore du regard : il produit l’image d’un objet façonnant l’image du regard. L’image du zoom, ce signe à déchiffrer, s’est substituée au réel en le redoublant et, dans le même temps, a été menée à disparaître derrière la transparence d’une image de la réalité. Nous sommes confrontés à l’idée que la réalité serait susceptible d’attester de l’image et que finalement l’image pourrait être créatrice de réel. / The zoom lens, originally invented for advanced optical instruments, soon came into use in the field of still photography before being adapted to the motion picture camera. It is a development that brought an end to the stability and the transparency of the image in favor of movement and visibility within that same image. To make use of a zoom to give the impression of a tracking shot is to propagate a form of perceptual illusionism, which is why I choose to consider the zoom as the passage from an image to the enlargement (or shrinking) of that very image. The zoom is fundamentally an image of an image that is to be understood in light of new concepts such as central framing, descriptive long takes, the flattening of the image, and the virtual frame within a frame. While evoking the notion of duplication, the connection between the image and its referent is to be questioned: an image made by a zoom lens is one of resemblance, as it is characterized by the gap that is formed between the image and its origin. It engenders an imaginary center as a form of fiction, or on the contrary, is marked by reality. It is in this sense that the zoom creates images that stare back at the spectator, rendering him conscious of his own gaze. One could evoke Brunelleschi’s experiment, which used a mirror so that one is observed by his own gaze in the "distance" of a painting in perspective, thus drawing in the gaze of the painter, confronting him with his double, his image. The zoom, like the notion of perspective, is also a metaphor for vision: it produces the image of an object that is shaped by the image of the gaze. The image of the zoom, a sign to be decrypted, substitutes reality by doubling it, yet is also vowed to disappear behind an image of reality. We are confronted with the idea that reality can be called on to vouch for the image, and that the image has the capacity to create reality.

This thesis provides a baseline study for eye tracking user interface design for controlling a mobile robot. The baseline study is an experiment involving the use of a radio controller (RC) to drive the robot, while gaze data is collected from each subject monitoring the position of robot on the remote screen that displays the view for the turret-mounted video camera on the robot. Initial data from the experiment provides a foundation for interface design of actual control of the mobile robot by gaze interaction. Such an interface may provide Tele-presence for the disable. Patients with motor disability cannot use their hands and legs but only use their eye motions. Such applications of an eye tracking system can provide patients with much flexibility and freedom for search and identification of objects. / Muhammad Asghar Jan (+46-700183140) syedmaji@hotmail.com (+46-736805771)

Context: Patients with diseases such as locked in syndrome or motor neuron are paralyzed and they need special care. To reduce the cost of their care, systems need to be designed where human involvement is minimal and affected people can perform their daily life activities independently. To assess the feasibility and robustness of combinations of input modalities, mobile robot (Spinosaurus) navigation is controlled by a combination of Eye gaze tracking and other input modalities. Objectives: Our aim is to control the robot using EEG brain signals and eye gaze tracking simultaneously. Different combinations of input modalities are used to control the robot and turret movement and then we find out which combination of control technique mapped to control command is most effective. Methods: The method includes developing the interface and control software. An experiment involving 15 participants was conducted to evaluate control of the mobile robot using a combination of eye tracker and other input modalities. Subjects were required to drive the mobile robot from a starting point to a goal along a pre-defined path. At the end of experiment, a sense of presence questionnaire was distributed among the participants to take their feedback. A qualitative pilot study was performed to find out how a low cost commercial EEG headset, the Emotiv EPOCTM, can be used for motion control of a mobile robot at the end. Results: Our study results showed that the Mouse/Keyboard combination was the most effective for controlling the robot motion and turret mounted camera respectively. In experimental evaluation, the Keyboard/Eye Tracker combination improved the performance by 9%. 86% of participants found that turret mounted camera was useful and provided great assistance in robot navigation. Our qualitative pilot study of the Emotiv EPOCTM demonstrated different ways to train the headset for different actions. Conclusions: In this study, we concluded that different combinations of control techniques could be used to control the devices e.g. a mobile robot or a powered wheelchair. Gaze-based control was found to be comparable with the use of a mouse and keyboard; EEG-based control was found to need a lot of training time and was difficult to train. Our pilot study suggested that using facial expressions to train the Emotiv EPOCTM was an efficient and effective way to train it.