Mar 16, 2014

MindHabits' Happy Games Paired with Pharrell William's "Happy" Music!

We all could use more smiling people and happy music!

If you are looking for a short burst of happiness, try playing the free MindHabits demo games. I recommend the Matrix Trainer for starters. You can uncheck the "email" box if you don't want to sign up for the newsletter.

The games have upbeat music playing in the background, but you can listen to your own music. In the Matrix game, the objective is to tap as many happy faces that you can find, out of a number of frowny or sad faces.   The research shows that this is an effective way of reducing stress.  I have used the on-line version for years with students who have autism, and it is a fun and effective way of "training" them to focus on facial features and expressions.

The desktop version of the suite of games is just under $20.00, and is available for Windows and Macs.   The desktop version tracks data and and allows users to customize the games with their own photos.   

I am about to explore MindHabit's new mobile apps: Psych Me Up PRO! and Happy Cat! 

If you work with young people - special needs or otherwise, try playing the on-line demo with Pharrell William's "Happy" song in the background (see music video embedded below). 

 This is something that wouldn't hurt to try at home!  


 MindHabits MindHabits MindHabits MindHabits

 MindHabits
You are playing the MindHabits Trainer online demo. Your progress will not be logged beyond this session.
Copyright © 2008 MindHabits inc. inc l rights Reserved.

Note: 
I am sharing information about MindHabits because I have been following this company since 2005, when Dr. Mark Baldwin, the lead creator of the suite of games, gave a presentation.   Dr. Baldwin is a psychology professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has devoted his career to the study of social intelligence, and more recently, how technology can help people reduce stress, build self-confidence, and development, and maintain positive states of mind.



According to the MindHabits website, the Psych Me Up Pro!   ($.99) and PsychMeUp! (free) mobile apps were developed to help people focus attention on positive social feedback. A quiz is included with the application, as well as information about the research that supports the use of the games.  The "pro" version has more options.

The children's version of PsychMeUp! is Happy Cat.  The objective is to find the happy cats and ignore the grumpy cats.  The smiling cat will meow.




















HOW MINDHABITS WORKS

RELATED

MindHabits Game Tips

MindHabits FAQ

MindHabits Update
Lynn Marentette, Interactive Multimedia Technology, 2/24/08

McEwan, K., Gilbert, P., Dandeneau, S., Lipka, S., Maratos, F., Paterson, K.B., Baldwin, M. (2014) Facial Expressions Depicting Compassionate and Critical Emotions: The Development and Validation of a New Emotional Face Stimulus Set. PLOS One DOI: 10.1317/journal.pone.0088783

Dandeneau, S. D., Baldwin, M. W. (2009) The buffering effects of rejection-inhibiting training against social and performance threats in adult students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34, 42-50

Stephane D. Dandeneau, Mark W. Baldwin, Jodene R. Baccus, and Maya Sakellaropoulo, Jens C. Pruessner (2007), Cutting Stress Off at the Pass: Reducing Vigilance and Responsiveness to Social Threat by Manipulation of Attention (pdf) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2007, Vol. 93, No. 4, 651–666 American Psychological Association 0022-3514/07/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.93.4.651

Mar 15, 2014

Graphene, Nanotechnology, and Programmable Interfaces; Samsung Galaxy Demo


I've been intrigued by graphene's multiple possibilities for the future. It is a flexible, programmable material that harness nano-technology to create flexible touch screens, "wearables", efficient energy storage systems, and more.  The following videos provide just two examples of graphene's potential.  

The details?  If you are curious, follow the links at the end of this post.  




Here is a short clip of a demo of a graphene touch screen on a Samsung Galaxy:


RELATED
Graphene nanoribbons could be the savior of Moore's Law
Ryan Whitwam, Extreme Tech, 2/17/14
High-Performance Multifunctional Graphene Yarns: Toward Wearable All-Carbon Engery Storage Textiles
ACS NANO, 2/11/14
Hydrogenation-Assisted Graphene Origami and Its Application in Programmable Molecular Mass Uptake, Storage, and Release
Shuze Zhu and Teng Li, University of Maryland, ACS Nano, 2/24/14
Teng Li Group, Harvard University
Chemically and structurally functionalized graphene for real-world applications
Marko Spasenovic, Graphenea, 3/06/14
Nanoscale graphene origami cages set world record for densest hydrogen storage
Kurzweil Newsletter, 3/14/14
Auto-switchable graphene bio-interface with a 'zipper' nanoarchitecture
Onur Parlak, Anthony P.F. Turner, Ashutosh Tiwari, Nano Werk 10/31/13
Samsung files patent for graphene-based touch screen
Marko Spasenovic, Graphene Tracker, 3/7/14
Graphene: Wikipedia
Grahpene:  Flexible touch screen, made from a sheet of carbon the thickness of one atom!   
Lynn Marentette, Interactive Multimedia Technology blog, 6/23/10