IOE exhibition explores brain imaging at Bloomsbury Festival

The researchers engaged festival-goers through interactive brain-sensing Muse™ headbands to help the general public develop awareness and understanding of the subject at their stall entitled - “Can It Read My Mind?”.

Muse headbands measure the electrical activity of the brain and convert this electrical feedback instantaneously into sounds that correspond to different brainwaves i.e., how calm or active the brain is. For example, a calm brain would lead to the sounds of birds tweeting, whereas an active brain would lead to noises of stormy weather.

From this, festival-goers could use the app to visualise their mental state through on-screen brain activity and discover how well they are able to focus or block out distracting information, providing insight into their ‘brain wellbeing’ and encouraging them to practise mindfulness meditation.

The stall explored visitors’ perceptions of brain imaging through answering questions such as 'Would you have your brain imaged?’ and ‘What have learnt about brain imaging?’ with a brain token system.

Links

• Department of Psychology and Human Development
• Centre for Research in Autism and Education
• Bloomsbury Festival