Collective Experience of Empathic Data Systems

The FET (Future and Emerging Technologies) Collective Experience of Empathic Data Systems (CEEDS) project will develop novel, integrated technologies to support human experience, analysis and understanding of very large datasets. It will focus on the study of consciousness, its underlying sub-conscious factors and creativit, by bringing together a team of leading experts in psychology, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and other key disciplines.

Making use of humans’ implicit processing abilities

CEEDS will develop innovative tools to exploit theories showing that discovery is the identification of patterns in complex data sets by the implicit information processing capabilities of the human brain. Implicit human responses will be identified by the CEEDs system’s analysis of its sensing systems, tuned to users’ bio-signals and non-verbal behaviours. CEEDs system will use these responss to guide users’ discovery of patterns and meaning within the datasets.

Immersion in synthetic reality spaces

To achieve this goal, users will be immersed in synthetic reality spaces (SRS), allowing them to explore complex data. Unobtrusive multi-modal wearable technologies will be developed in the project for users to wear whilst experiencing the SRS.

Two brains are better than one – collective experience

Individuals’ pattern detection abilities will be augmented by linking multiple users together, creating a collective discovery system.

Making a practical difference

CEEDs’ effectiveness will be validated through studies involving stakeholders from science, history and design. The consortium envisages genuine benefits from the CEEDs system. Think, for example, of a young pupil using CEEDs being able to see complex patterns in an astronomy data set, patterns which without CEEDs would only be perceptible to an experienced professor. By unleashing the power of the subconscious, CEEDs will make fundamental contributions to human experience.