How Im using biological data to tell better stories and spark social change Heidi Boisvert
For the past 15 years I’ve been trying
to change your mind.
In my work I harness pop culture
and emerging technology
to shift cultural norms.
I’ve made video games
to promote human rights,
I’ve made animations to raise awareness
about unfair immigration laws
and I’ve even made location-based
augmented reality apps
to change perceptions around homelessness
well before Pokémon Go.
(Laughter)
But then I began to wonder
whether a game or an app
can really change attitudes and behaviors,
and if so, can I measure that change?
What’s the science behind that process?
So I shifted my focus
from making media and technology
to measuring their
neurobiological effects.
Here’s what I discovered.
The web, mobile devices,
virtual and augmented reality
were rescripting our nervous systems.
And they were literally changing
the structure of our brain.
The very technologies I had been using
to positively influence hearts and minds
were actually eroding functions
in the brain necessary for empathy
and decision-making.
In fact, our dependence
upon the web and mobile devices
might be taking over
our cognitive and affective faculties,
rendering us socially
and emotionally incompetent,
and I felt complicit
in this dehumanization.
I realized that before I could continue
making media about social issues,
I needed to reverse engineer
the harmful effects of technology.
To tackle this I asked myself,
“How can I translate
the mechanisms of empathy,
the cognitive, affective
and motivational aspects,
into an engine that simulates
the narrative ingredients
that move us to act?”
To answer this, I had to build a machine.
(Laughter)
I’ve been developing
an open-source biometric lab,
an AI system which I call the Limbic Lab.
The lab not only captures
the brain and body’s unconscious response
to media and technology
but also uses machine learning
to adapt content
based on these biological responses.
My goal is to find out what combination
of narrative ingredients
are the most appealing and galvanizing
to specific target audiences
to enable social justice, cultural
and educational organizations
to create more effective media.
The Limbic Lab consists of two components:
a narrative engine and a media machine.
While a subject is viewing
or interacting with media content,
the narrative engine takes in and syncs
real-time data from brain waves,
biophysical data like heart rate,
blood flow, body temperature
and muscle contraction,
as well as eye-tracking
and facial expressions.
Data is captured at key places
where critical plot points,
character interaction
or unusual camera angles occur.
Like the final scene
in “Game of Thrones, Red Wedding,”
when shockingly,
everybody dies.
(Laughter)
Survey data on that
person’s political beliefs,
along with their psychographic
and demographic data,
are integrated into the system
to gain a deeper understanding
of the individual.
Let me give you an example.
Matching people’s TV preferences
with their views on social justice issues
reveals that Americans who rank
immigration among their top three concerns
are more likely to be fans
of “The Walking Dead,”
and they often watch
for the adrenaline boost,
which is measurable.
A person’s biological signature
and their survey response
combines into a database
to create their unique media imprint.
Then our predictive model
finds patterns between media imprints
and tells me which narrative ingredients
are more likely to lead
to engagement in altruistic behavior
rather than distress and apathy.
The more imprints added to the database
across mediums from episodic
television to games,
the better the predictive models become.
In short, I am mapping
the first media genome.
(Applause and cheers)
Whereas the human genome
identifies all genes involved
in sequencing human DNA,
the growing database of media imprints
will eventually allow me
to determine the media DNA
for a specific person.
Already the Limbic Lab’s narrative engine
helps content creators
refine their storytelling,
so that it resonates with their target
audiences on an individual level.
The Limbic Lab’s other component,
the media machine,
will assess how media elicits
an emotional and physiological response,
then pulls scenes from a content library
targeted to person-specific media DNA.
Applying artificial intelligence
to biometric data
creates a truly personalized experience.
One that adapts content based
on real-time unconscious responses.
Imagine if nonprofits and media makers
were able to measure how audiences feel
as they experience it
and alter content on the fly.
I believe this is the future of media.
To date, most media
and social-change strategies
have attempted to appeal
to mass audiences,
but the future is media
customized for each person.
As real-time measurement
of media consumption
and automated media production
becomes the norm,
we will soon be consuming media
tailored directly to our cravings
using a blend of psychographics,
biometrics and AI.
It’s like personalized medicine
based on our DNA.
I call it “biomedia.”
I am currently testing
the Limbic Lab in a pilot study
with the Norman Lear Center,
which looks at the top 50
episodic television shows.
But I am grappling
with an ethical dilemma.
If I design a tool
that can be turned into a weapon,
should I build it?
By open-sourcing the lab
to encourage access and inclusivity,
I also run the risk
of enabling powerful governments
and profit-driven companies
to appropriate the platform
for fake news, marketing
or other forms of mass persuasion.
For me, therefore,
it is critical to make my research
as transparent to
lay audiences as GMO labels.
However, this is not enough.
As creative technologists,
we have a responsibility
not only to reflect upon how present
technology shapes our cultural values
and social behavior,
but also to actively challenge
the trajectory of future technology.
It is my hope that we make
an ethical commitment
to harvesting the body’s intelligence
for the creation of authentic
and just stories
that transform media and technology
from harmful weapons
into narrative medicine.
Thank you.
(Applause and cheers)