Nick Santaniello « Rest Of You

HeartRacer

By Nick Santaniello, on December 21st, 2011%

For my final project, tentatively titled HeartRacer, I decided to explore the possibility of changing behavior through game mechanics. More specifically, I wanted to create a light, portable tv-based game that could help manipulate a user’s heart rate into the optimal zone for losing weight and improving cardiovascular health without making them feel like they were . . . → Read More: HeartRacer

Neural Darwinism

By Nick Santaniello, on November 8th, 2011%

I’m reporting on a recent research paper entitled, The Neuronal Replicator Hypothesis which advances a theory that our minds evolve as certain patterns of thought are established known as Neural Darwinism.

My presentation can be . . . → Read More: Neural Darwinism

GSR Cam

By Nick Santaniello, on November 6th, 2011%

For my midterm project I decided to try to embed signals from my body with the actual digital photos I might be taking. I used a GSR sensor fixed to the side of my camera connected to an Arduino. The GSR sensor uploads a reading every minute (or every second) with a timestamp.

I built a Processing . . . → Read More: GSR Cam

Analyzing my Text –

By Nick Santaniello, on October 26th, 2011%

This week I logged my keystrokes; I was pretty excited about the potential results of this exercise. Unfortunately, my results were not at all interesting. All the words that I used often were entirely predictable: articles and prepositions, mostly.

More interesting to me were the keystrokes stripped out by the default code sample, the del keystrokes, enter . . . → Read More: Analyzing my Text –

Infectious feelings.

By Nick Santaniello, on October 11th, 2011%

At first glance, Iacoboni’s Authors@Google talk seems to be about our natural ability to mimic each other, even at young ages.

I have found myself subtly changing my speech patterns and word choices to better communicate with people different than me. It’s unclear if I’m doing this because I am empathetic or merely if I’m exercising an . . . → Read More: Infectious feelings.

My Breathing, Visualized.

By Nick Santaniello, on October 4th, 2011%

I used a stretch sensor and some wire taped around my chest to create a visual representation of my breathing patterns. Using Processing, I had the size of an ellipse change depending on the stretch sensor’s reading. More importantly, I leave past readings on the screen, slowly fading out, to give the viewer (and myself) a . . . → Read More: My Breathing, Visualized.

GSR Readings and Reading Reflections

By Nick Santaniello, on September 15th, 2011%

I built a simple GSR sensor. Overall, I was surprised at how sharply the graph could change when I moved suddenly. Overall, I’m not sure what the data is telling me. Common knowledge would dictate that the more nervous, uncomfortable, or stressed one is, the higher the GSR reading would be; however, I’m not sure this . . . → Read More: GSR Readings and Reading Reflections

Illusions and Communication.

By Nick Santaniello, on September 13th, 2011%

I think the most frequent illusions in my own life are in my own head as a result of the vagaries of communication between people. For example, for a thought/statement to pass from someone else’s head into mine (or vice versa), it must first be converted into words (and body language, inflection, etc.) and those signals . . . → Read More: Illusions and Communication.

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