Livestream: Customised media, curated as per genome

 Creative technologist Heidi Boisvert is on a quest to map out the world’s first media genome. It’s a tall order, no doubt. But that’s what she’s been doing for the past 15 years – trying to change minds. Her job involves harnessing pop culture and emerging technology to shift cultural norms. As part of her work, she has designed video games to promote human rights and animations to raise awareness about unfair immigration laws.

Today, she is polishing her craft to understand the neurobiological effects of media and technology. She tells us, “The web, mobile devices, virtual and augmented reality are rescripting our nervous systems. They are literally changing the structure of our brain. The technologies I had been using to positively influence hearts and minds were eroding functions in the brain necessary for empathy and decision-making. Our dependence upon mobile devices might be taking over our cognitive and affective faculties, rendering us socially and emotionally incompetent.”

So, she went on to design a machine, an AI system if you will, an open source biometric lab called the Limbic Lab. It captures the brain and body’s unconscious response to media and tech. And it uses Machine Learning to adapt content based on these biological responses. What she’s trying to do is find the right combination of narrative ingredients most appealing to specific target audiences, to enable social justice, cultural and educational organisations to create more effective media.

One component of the Limbic Lab – the narrative engine, records real time data from brain waves, biophysical data like heart rate, blood flow, body temperature as well as eye tracking and facial expressions. She says that 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,” she adds.

She sums up saying, “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.”