Synthetic Triggers - A study in animated graphics ASMR

Millions of people all over the world regularly watch videos where someone creates sounds using various objects and whispers into a microphone. This is part of the hunt for so-called tingles: warm, relaxing “brain massage” which can best be produced by audio and visual stimuli. The phenomenon has been popularized as Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).

Almost all ASMR videos have a person present to a greater or lesser extent. In some of them the person sits close to the camera and pays intrusive attention to the watcher. In others, the person only shows her hands and remains silent while the sound is created. This project examines whether a human presence is necessary in order to trigger ASMR or whether the tactile experience can be generated via animated graphic objects.

I have created my own animated ASMR material, free from human presence. I have also tested the material quantitatively in a digital survey and the results have been summarized in a film. The survey opened on April 23rd and closed on May 14th 2018 with 560 finished submissions.

Huge thanks to everyone who participated in the survey!


CONTACT
Marcus Nystrand
nilsmarcusnystrand@gmail.com
www.marcusnystrand.se


CREDITS

Project mentor
Mattias Jakobsson, www.konst-teknik.se

Exhibition sponsors
Primetec, www.primetec.com
Parasoll utemöbler, www.parasollutemobler.se

Code related help
Philip Åkerfeldt, philip.akerfeldt@hotmail.se
Jonas Johansson, www.jonasjohansson.se
Jesper Jansson, jesper.jansson1992@gmail.com

Survey construction
Dr. Craig Richard, www.asmruniversity.com
Adam Ringstedt, adam.ringstedt@icloud.com

Audio mix & master
Oscar Modig, www.oscarmodig.org