Vocal Emotional Communication. Understanding vocal emotional communication (VEC) has health, social, educational, economic and political benefits. Outcomes include: Development of an Australian test of sensitivity to emotional signals in (prosody) speech phythms; Characterisation of emotional signals in music and speech; Understanding congenital impairments in music and speech prosody; Elucidating the cognitive basis of motor planning and facial expressions in VEC; and internationalisation of mo ....Vocal Emotional Communication. Understanding vocal emotional communication (VEC) has health, social, educational, economic and political benefits. Outcomes include: Development of an Australian test of sensitivity to emotional signals in (prosody) speech phythms; Characterisation of emotional signals in music and speech; Understanding congenital impairments in music and speech prosody; Elucidating the cognitive basis of motor planning and facial expressions in VEC; and internationalisation of motion capture research. Potential benefits include training programs in VEC for individuals with social adjustment problems or for people involved in sensitive cross-cultural interactions; enhancement of music pedagogy programs; and construction of effective warning and alert signals.Read moreRead less
Keeping track: The effect of distraction on attention to moving objects. This is basic research with broad societal implications. We constantly balance the attention demands of achieving a goal (e.g., driving) in the midst of competing environmental demands (e.g., attention-grabbing advertising). Billions of dollars are spent trying to make our roads safer, but basic research is critical to inform policy and design. There are three main benefits in identifying distractions that impair performanc ....Keeping track: The effect of distraction on attention to moving objects. This is basic research with broad societal implications. We constantly balance the attention demands of achieving a goal (e.g., driving) in the midst of competing environmental demands (e.g., attention-grabbing advertising). Billions of dollars are spent trying to make our roads safer, but basic research is critical to inform policy and design. There are three main benefits in identifying distractions that impair performance on a task that requires attention to moving objects. It will: (1) develop a method for exploring attention demands on real-world experiences (e.g., driving); (2) inform policy decisions on safer environments; and (3) provide a basis for minimising distractions in environments for people with attentional difficulties.Read moreRead less
An Electro-Neural Vision System for the Blind. This project is aimed at the development of a device that can provide blind people with limited visual perception of the environment (i.e. alternative vision) via the use of miniature stereo video cameras, laser range sensors, vision processing equipment and electrodes placed on the surface of the skin for delivering the visual information to the brain.
How Do Stone Tools Reflect Cognition Among the First Australians and their Precursors? The popularity of the Indonesian 'hobbit' (Homo floresiensis) discovery provides an ideal platform for interpreting Australasian prehistory to a wider community. This project explores the arrival of modern humans in Indonesia, their interaction with 'hobbits', and the colonisation of Australia by comparing the different ways these hominins made stone tools. Although research indicates a significant level of ....How Do Stone Tools Reflect Cognition Among the First Australians and their Precursors? The popularity of the Indonesian 'hobbit' (Homo floresiensis) discovery provides an ideal platform for interpreting Australasian prehistory to a wider community. This project explores the arrival of modern humans in Indonesia, their interaction with 'hobbits', and the colonisation of Australia by comparing the different ways these hominins made stone tools. Although research indicates a significant level of behavioural unity in our genus, 'hobbits' were not like us. 'Us' refers, of course, to modern humans, and hence this research is of global relevance. By applying a 'design space' model to toolmaking in the past, this project will demonstrate that the earliest trends in technology apply equally to human groups throughout the world. Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354757
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$30,000.00
Summary
Interactive Digital Media Matrix. The Interactive Digital Media Matrix (iDMM) links national and international researchers in the fields of new media, information and communications technology (ICT), cultural theory and cognitive science. The network underscores the growing interdependence of these four cornerstone fields and their convergent role in facilitating advances in smart information use. The iDMM brings together expressive and technical resources in digital imaging, multimedia, content ....Interactive Digital Media Matrix. The Interactive Digital Media Matrix (iDMM) links national and international researchers in the fields of new media, information and communications technology (ICT), cultural theory and cognitive science. The network underscores the growing interdependence of these four cornerstone fields and their convergent role in facilitating advances in smart information use. The iDMM brings together expressive and technical resources in digital imaging, multimedia, content generation, database architecture and cultural critique. Able to embody significant depth and achievement with contributions from the most aspirant young scholars, the network will address the most challenging issues in the innovative use of digital media.
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Higher cognition and hemispheric specialization in an avian species: referential and intentional communication. We will discover whether alarm calls of Australian magpies, noted for their outstanding range of vocalisations, are referential (signalling predator type and location) and intentional (vocalised in specific contexts). Such complex communication , once thought to be unique to humans, has been found in some mammals and just one avian species, the domestic chick. This project will be the ....Higher cognition and hemispheric specialization in an avian species: referential and intentional communication. We will discover whether alarm calls of Australian magpies, noted for their outstanding range of vocalisations, are referential (signalling predator type and location) and intentional (vocalised in specific contexts). Such complex communication , once thought to be unique to humans, has been found in some mammals and just one avian species, the domestic chick. This project will be the first such investigation of an avian species in its natural habitat. This is important also because bird and mammalian brains are organised differently and birds offer a unique opportunity to discover whether one hemisphere is specialised for this purpose.Read moreRead less