Nov 24 2011
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The Wild West of Chronic Pain: Collaborations among Artists, Scientists and Health Care Experts

By | Collaborations, Events, Other News

The Transforming Pain Research Group, led by Dr. Diane Gromala, will be showing off their stuff at the University of California (Los Angeles) Art | Sci Center + Lab on November 30. Others taking part include Andrea Zeffiro, Tyler Fox and Jay Vidharthi.

Here’s how the announcement on the Art | Sci Center website puts it:

The Wild West of Chronic Pain: Collaborations among Artists, Scientists and Health Care Experts

  • Why is a media technology immersive VR known as a non-pharmacological analgesic?
  • Can a robot reduce anxiety?
  • How might novel forms of social media combat the social isolation experienced by seniors who have chronic pain?
  • What do Sufi practices and phosphorescent creatures have to do with pain?

Members of the Transforming Pain Research Group comprise artists, musicians, computer scientists, engineers, designers, psychophysicists; and pain physicians. All are exploring the ways that new technologies may help the 1 in 5 people who suffer from chronic pain.

Referred to as the silent epidemic, this relatively new disease has no known cause and no cure. While health care researchers explore its etiology, experts from diverse disciplines are working on ways to help with managing chronic pain. See what a group of innovative researchers north of the border are doing.

Nov 19 2011
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Mindfulness Technologies Workshop

By | Events

Lab members Diane Gromala and Terry Lavender attended (via Skype) a Mindfulness Technologies Workshop, held at the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) on November 18. Gromala gave an introduction to CPRM & the lab and discussed immersive virtual reality & mindfulness; while Lavender presented his proposed research on portable mindfulness: immersion and meditation on smart phones and tablets.

Other topics included  the effects of mindfulness on pain in adolescents; the effects of mindfulness on pain in adolescents and mindfulness technologies: work in progress. The workshop was organized by OCADs Mobile Experience Lab (http://mobilelab.ca/).

Nov 17 2011
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Mount Qaf: A Multimedia Performance Installation Infusing Electronic Art and the Sonic and Visual Aesthetics

By | Conferences, Events

Lab members Mark Nazemi and Amir Ghahary will be bringing their Mount Qaf multimedia performance installation to SIGGRAPH Asia 2011 in December. The piece s an audiovisual performance installation and a spatial/temporal structure which expresses the aesthetic dimensions of Sufism and electronic music culture. The experience combines generative digital art based on animating Persian patterns with eastern architectural motifs including Muqarnas, in syncopation with an ethnic electronic soundscape encountered through multi-channel acoustics. By re-imagining the traditional aesthetics of Sufism through the lens of electronic art and digital culture, the visual music journey of Mount Qaf sacralizes a nostalgia for the ancient past as well as reverence for an expectant technological future.

As children of parents who immigrated from Iran, the artists are therefore participating in a space reminiscent of their spiritual heritage while remaining clothed in the fabric of their technological upbringing. In the culture of Persian Sufism, the sense of place which emerges from visual and acoustic aesthetics reflects the alam-i-mithal, or the transcendent Imaginal Realm. To this end, spiritual cultures have always fashioned tools and instruments intended to sacralize space and affect a sense of identity and belonging. Today, electronic and digital media constitute an emerging palette with which the notion of sacred space can be explored. In this way, this multimedia performance installation invites viewers to experience a novel cultural space and consider the mystery surrounding the transcendent sense of home.

Nazemi and Ghahary will be travelling to SIGGRAPH Asia, in Hong Kong, in December 2011.

Nov 07 2011
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Pain Lab Open House

By | Events

On November 4, the Transforming Pain group threw open the doors to the pain lab as SFU Surrey celebrated the official opening of Podium 2, the newly expanded part of the campus, where the Pain Lab has now moved.

Tyler Fox acted as MC for several groups of politicians, senior administrators, potential students and their parents, while Meehae Song demonstrated the virtual walking meditation application and Jay Vidharthi demonstrated the sonic cradle.

Oct 21 2011
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Pain Archives

By | Collaborations, Lab Updates, Other News

Dr. Diane Gromala has begun research in the Liebeskind History of Pain Collection, which are located are in the Louise M. Darling BioMedical Library at UCLA in Los Angeles.

The collection includes oral histories from the pioneers in pain research, along with rare medical books and collections of printed matter, physical objects, written records and other witnesses of history.

Oct 19 2011
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Interested in participating in our research studies?

By | Lab Updates, Other News
Do you want to participate in our research studies? Study opportunities range from a single 30 minute session to 15-20 minutes a day for 2 weeks. All studies have passed rigorous ethics boards at SFU and University of Toronto. Your name & information will be kept strictly confidential. Current opportunities include:
  • Virtual meditative walk: human subject studies in Vancouver & Surrey, BC; spring 2012. Contact Meehae Song: meehaes@sfu.ca
  • Sonic cradle: human subject studies in Surrey, BC (dates to be determined) and UCLA, last week of November 2011. Email Jay: kvidyart@sfu.ca
  • Sitting meditation: human subject studies Stanford area, March & April 2012. Email Diane: gromala@sfu.ca
  • Haptic creature (furry robot): human subject studies Vancouver, anticipated Summer 2012. Contact Mark: mna31@sfu.ca
  • Social media (with the University of Toronto): human subject studies CURRENTLY: for people who: 
    1. are 55+ years old 
    2. have chronic pain and 
    3. live in the Vancouver or Toronto areas.
      The diary study requires an estimated 15-20 minutes of your time per day, for two weeks. We are studying communication patterns. Participants will receive $10. each week when they turn in their weekly diary. Email Jessica: jessica@taglab.ca.
  • Virtual Reality, Art Therapy: we are seeking art therapists to participate in interviews spring 2012. Any geographic location in North America. Please contact Meehae Song: meehaes@sfu.ca
Oct 16 2011
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CIRPD Webinars Diane Gromala on Transforming Pain

By | Events, Other News

Utilizing Science, Technology and the Arts to Transform Pain

October 19, 2011 at 2pm PDT
Prof. Diane Gromala, PhD

Pain is universal to human existence. One in five Canadians experiences chronic pain. On average, they wait two to five years before seeing a pain specialist. This webinar features Prof. Diane Gromala, who has suffered from chronic pain for several decades. She will provide an overview of the exciting potential of new technologies and interaction design in helping to improve the lives of people who live with long-term chronic pain.

This webinar will offer some fascinating highlights on:

  • immersive VR research: promising early results,
  • studies in the use of robotics to alleviate anxiety,
  • new developments in using social media to combat social isolation,
  • the importance of conducting research studies and participating in them.
Sep 30 2011
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ISEA Paper, 2011

By | Conference Papers, Conferences

PhD student Tyler Fox presented Metaplasticity and Inner Body Schemas: VR for Chronic Pain at the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA) in Istanbul, Turkey September, 18th, 2011. The paper, part of a panel on current VR research, focused on three of the works-in-progress in our lab: The Virtual Meditative Walk, The Sonic Cradle, and a sitting meditation planned around a new virtual environment created by our partners at FirstHand in Seattle.