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People tend to synchronize heart rates, breathing and neural rhythms during intimate physical and emotional exchange, which in turn enhances their mutual feelings of social connectedness. In a world of rising remote interactions, we experience a lack of in-person interactions that precondition socially-induced synchronization. Inspired by this phenomenon, we created SinkInSync, an award-winning VR-based cross-person EEG neurofeedback experience towards augmenting emotional social connectedness via externally-induced brainwave synchronization between pairs of individuals.The experience is set in a fictional landscape that dynamically reacts to real-time brainwave data, resulting in a visualization of the partner user’s internal mind state. The semi-defamiliarizing landscape is nestled amidst a sweeping expanse of billowy clouds, a mesmerizing starry sky, and reflective stones that subtly alters the surrounding scenery as the viewer strolls through the landscape. The hue of the 3D elements changes in response to the dominant brainwave band, and the glow of objects pulsates in synchrony with the dominant brainwave frequency, providing rhythmic visual cues to influence the viewer’s brainwave frequency.
In this session, we will be sharing both the experience live and the process behind the creation, including project development, user testing findings and applications of this experience in relationship therapy, autism therapy, medication, past-self immersion, and interactive games. We will also share our perspectives on the potential of emerging technologies in fostering interpersonal connections without using the common tool of speech and how the usage of biometric data could add to the channels of communication and help improve accessibility. Additional topics we will cover include:
Speaker Bio
Tiange Wang, multidisciplinary software designer, creative technologist, IDEO, Harvard GSD alumni
Tiange Wang is a multidisciplinary software designer at IDEO, where she creates human- centered and data-driven experiences through UI/UX, frontend development, XR prototyping, spatial design and data visualization. She has worked across various industries in North America and Japan, and crafted user-friendly and culturally-sensitive experiences for clients from worldwide trading conglomerate to large biotechnology company to small home care brand.
Prior to IDEO, she was a design consultant to Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies in creating products that provide a seamless and accessible digital transformation experience for the world-renowned research institution, and collaborated with Harvard Innovation Labs in designing a venture around digital wellbeing.
As an award-winning creative technologist and former architect, Tiange designs for experiences that bridge the digital and physical worlds, including novel phygital interfaces, smart homes, educational games, unmanned retail, and spatial storytelling with extended realities and generative AI.
Xin Feng, Software Engineer, Meta Reality Lab, creative technologist, Harvard GSD alumni
Xin is an independent creative technologist who currently works at Reality Labs VR team. Prior to Meta, she worked at Tencent game studio, specializing in Houdini generative design for a 3A IP game. Her work was nominated by MUSE Creative Awards, Non Architecture and exhibited in Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture. Xin is passionate about creative technology and design on individual well-being including health, cognition, emotion and social relationships, and interested in bridging physical and virtual worlds through XR and other new modalities. Xin holds a MDes Tech from Harvard Graduate school of design and a Bachelor in Architecture.
Learn more about the experience at
Learn more at https://sinkinsync-at-nycdesign.eventbrite.com.
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