Hi! I’m Simon from Nomensa.

This is my presentation

Neuroaesthetics: how beauty drives

engagement from Linkdex Think

Tank ‘The psychology of sharing’

November 2013.

I’ve added my notes to each of the

slides. Any questions, please

contact me @simon_norris.

Why do we share? What makes one

thing engaging and another

disengaging? Why do we prefer

some things over others? How do

our preferences work? To

understand the processes that

underlie preferences we need to

dive into the psychology and

neurobiology of beauty.

So, what is beauty? And, why is

beauty so important? How does it

work? What can we learn from

understanding beauty?

More importantly by understanding

it we can design better experiences

that feel more engaging.

Experiences that feel more

meaningful. Experiences we want

to share.

22

Jan Vermeer painting A girl with

pearl earring c.1665

What does her look mean? It can

mean many things, yet it is

intriguing and therefore engaging.

Obviously, great content can be

highly engaging. But, how do you

know you've got great content?

And, great content is only half of the

equation because you need to

distribute it and get other people to

do the same. However, great

content helps a lot!

Aphrodite of Milos or the Venus de

Milo, is one of the most famous

works of ancient Greek sculpture

and is currently on permanent

display at the Louvre Museum in

Paris.

We have been creating works of art

for thousands of years.

David is a masterpiece of

Renaissance sculpture created

between 1501 and 1504, by the

Italian artist Michelangelo.

55

Claude Monet’s Impression Sunrise

c. 1872

The name of the picture contains

the name of the art movement

‘impressionist’ in the title even

though it was heavily criticised at

the time.

6

Impression Sunrise in black and

white.

Whilst the sun was the brightest

object in the sky in the previous

slide it is hardly distinguishable

when the colour is removed. The

sun should always be brighter than

the sky if painting in a

representational style. Obviously,

Monet knew how to paint the sun so

it would shimmer in the picture and

therefore by breaking the purely

representational style creates

something totally new and different:

the impressionist art movement.

Neuroaesthetics: how beauty drives engagement

So, Neuroaesthetics: how beauty

drives engagement.Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy

concerned with art, beauty and

taste and has been discussed for

thousands of years since the time of

Plato. It is obviously pretty important!

David Hume a British empiricist in

the 18th century, argued that

beauty does not exist in things but

the minds that contemplate them.

Does the property for aesthetic

preference exist in all human

brains?

This presentation will provide a

quick tour of the domain of Neuroaesthetics and therefore start

by looking at the brain, its function

and how insights from this domain

can be applied to design.But firstly, a definition...

“...neuroaesthetics, is a new scientific discipline whose object it is to identify and understand the neural processes

involved in human art behaviour - those processes that underlie both the

construction and experience of art.”

Skov & Vartanian Neuroaesthetics definition by Skov

& Vartanian which focuses on art

perception and experience.

It raises an interesting question…..

Beauty is also a property of non-art objects

Does neuroaesthetics play a role in

non-art objects?

We don’t just respond to art but we

also respond to non-art. Let’s look at

a range of non-art objects that have

aesthetic appeal.

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

designed by architect Frank Gehry

and opened in 1997.

The curves and unusual geometry

make this building interesting and

aesthetically appealing.

Zaha Hadid designed the Innovation

Tower for the Hong Kong

Polytechnic University which was

completed in 2013.

Like the Guggenheim it is unusual

and aesthetically interesting.

From exteriors to the interiors of

buildings.

The Amagerbro Metro Station in

Copenhagen is a beautiful image

showing the fabulous lighting and

geometry of the space.

From the things we build to things

built by nature.

The image of Mount Fuji reflected in

Lake Yamanaka is a great natural

example of symmetry showing the

snow capped mountain rising above

the town.

Human beings are surrounded by

many examples of symmetry within

nature. Is it no wonder we have a

strong preference for symmetrical

objects?

Tigers, like many animals within the

animal kingdom, are considered

beautiful.

This image showing the tiger staring

straight at us reveals its amazing

eye colour and the pattern of its

stripes. It’s an enigmatic image.

For everyone who likes cats :)

When we look out into the cosmos

there are a great many objects of

beauty.

Our star, the Sun, may look a little

scary here but it is still beautiful.

Our own Mother Earth showing an

image of our planet only observable

twice a year, during an Equinox.

To our own galaxy the Milky Way

showing Orion Nebula and Orion’s

belt

The cosmos is beautiful.

Even the things we make can be

beautiful.

Smeg’s retro-style refrigerators with

their curves and simple design have

aesthetic appeal.

To a much smaller product designed

with aesthetic appeal. In fact, its

beautiful design is considered one of

its major features and has

catapulted Apple’s iPhone (version

5) to one the top profit generating

companies in the world.

Aesthetics can make or break a

product!

Even websites can be considered

aesthetic. The Nominet website is

responsive and could be considered

as an example of a website with

aesthetic appeal. The responsive

design approach could also be

considered an aesthetic preference.

In other words, we are developing

preferences for websites that are

responsive and the more

aesthetically pleasing they are, as

well as, responsive, the better the

user experience.

So, aesthetics can be commercially

beneficial.

We also like abstract patterns. We

want to make sense of them.

There are many things in our lives

both natural and designed that have

aesthetic appeal.

Why are some things beautiful?

What drives aesthetics?

So, if beauty is not in the eye but in

the brain. That brings us onto

another important question.

What is the function of the brain?

“the acquisition of knowledge...”

Zeki

I appreciate that there can be many

different definitions for the brain

and what it does. That said, I find

the definition by Zeki to be

particularity poignant.

Simir Zeki is Professor of

Neuroaesthetics at the University

College of London and founded the

Institute of Neuroaesthetics in 2001

at Berkeley, California.

Zeki is known among other things

for the discovery of the many visual

areas of the brain and their

functional specialisation for different

visual attributes such as colour,

motion and form.

For example discovering neurones

in a part of the monkey visual

system that would respond only

when a particular colour, rather than

a particular wavelength, was in their

receptive fields. For example, he

showed that a red-sensitive neuron

would continue to respond to a red

stimulus, even when it was

illuminated mainly by green light.

This was important because it was

the first study relating colour

perception to single cell physiology

in the brain.

This is really interesting and maybe

even a little controversial because it

challenges the orthodox view that

processing sites in the visual brain

are separate from perceptual sites

but in fact, that processing sites can

also be perceptual sites. An idea

Zeki calls Micro-consciousness!

An MRI scanner.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI),

nuclear magnetic resonance

imaging (NMRI), or magnetic

resonance tomography (MRT) is a

medical imaging technique used in

radiology to visualise internal

structures of the body in detail. MRI

makes use of the property of

nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)

to image nuclei of atoms inside the

body. MRI can create more detailed

images of the human body than are

possible with X-rays.

The image shows the topography of

the primary visual cortex and

surrounding areas.

This type of image is a typical

output of the brain shown in sagittal

view (A and B) with a close-up on

the visual areas (V1, V2, V3, VP, V3A

and V4V) .

It is important to note that there is

no single area where all specialised

visual circuitry connects and

therefore no single neural centre

exists and it is more likely to be a

neural network.

What is interesting about the brain

and specifically the cortex is its 6

layer formation.

The same anatomical structure can

have profoundly different functions.

It is very hard to tell by anatomical

analysis the difference between the

areas for touch, smell or hearing.

Compare this to other areas of the

body where the differences can be

obvious even by the untrained

observer looking at the anatomical

structures of the retina or the

cochlea.

The 6 layers are composed of two

cell types.

29

The architecture of the cerebral

cortex is composed of a few cellular

types, namely Pyramidal or pyramid

cells (a) and Stellate or star cells (b).

The image shows a detailed view of

Pyramidal or pyramid cells (a) and

Stellate or star cells (b).

Interestingly V1 in the Visual Cortex

has no star cells!

brain concepts?

I mentioned earlier the term ‘brain

concept’ but what are a brain

concepts?

...there are two kinds [brain concepts], inherited and acquired. The two kinds are intimately linked and one could not exist without the other.”

Zeki

inherited or acquired

The inherited concepts organising the

signals that come into the brain so as

to instill meaning into them and thus

make sense of them.The acquired concepts are generated

throughout life by the brain, and make

it significantly independent of the

continual change in the information

reaching the brain; they make it easier

for us to perceive and recognise and

thus obtain knowledge of things and

situations.

A good example of an inherited brain

concept is the perception or seeing of

colour. A person with a normal brain

cannot control or ignore the colour they

see.

We have cells in our Primary Visual

Cortex that are orientation-selective

e.g. cells that only respond to straight

lines.

So horizontal orientation-selective cells

will not respond to a vertical stimulus.Zeki’s consider this brain ability of cells

to fire for specific stimuli to represent

the neural building blocks of form

perception.

Zeki also considers it a form of micro-

consciousness that operates below

normal cognitive operation.

constancy

Zeki outlines other important

functions of the brain, namely,

perceptual constancy and abstraction.

Perceptual constancy allows us to

maintain visual stimuli when

variables such as distance, viewing

angle and illumination change. In

other words the brain maintains an

object’s ‘constancy’ e.g. a banana or

a face will remain intact regardless

of light, angle or distance. The brain

is acting with efficiency and reducing the amount of information

that needs to be remembered or

recalled to recognise a face or a

banana in changing conditions.It has been argued that art exposes

this constancy because it allows us

to capture the essence of an object.Constancy represents a primordial

function of the visual brain.

abstraction

Abstraction is different to constancy

and requires hierarchical neural

coordination. Therefore, general

representation can be applied to

many particulars. So in the case of

art it externalises the functions of

abstraction in the brain. However,

the actual processes involved with

abstraction are currently unknown

to cognitive neurobiology.

“the particular is subordinated to the general, so what is represented is applicable to many particulars.”

ZekiThe quote by Zeki indicates the

limitations of our memories and how

abstraction operates to allow the

brain to behave efficiently within the

need for storing and recalling every

detail.

Memory is reconstructed after all.

ambiguity

Like abstraction and constancy,

ambiguity can be considered a

fundamental brain behaviour that

can operate at different levels.

Let’s look at a definition for

ambiguity.

... a neurobiologically based definition of ambiguity is the opposite of the dictionary

definition; it is not uncertainty, but certainty - the certainty of many, equally plausible

interpretations, each one of which is sovereign when it occupies the conscious stage.”

Zeki

Essentially, the brain is very good at

producing many different

interpretations.

A classic ambiguous object is the

Necker cube.

A visual illusion discovered in 1832

by the Swiss crystallographer L. A.

Necker whilst observing crystal he

noticed changes in the depth of the

crystals, yet, the crystals were not

changing.

It presents an great example of a

physically unvarying stimulus and

how our brains produce 3 possible

interpretations which all are equally

valid.

3939

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

c.1517

What does her smile mean?

It could mean a great many things

and has been described as

enigmatic.

It certainly will have more than one

interpretation.

How can we use insights from neuroaesthetics in design?

So, what insights can we use from

neuroaesthetics?

Three areas to explore:

- Patterns and pleasure;

- Mental Models;

- Cards.

A great image from Iron Man 3 film

showing Aldrich Killian showing his

brain to Pepper Pots.

pleasure and patterns

We have long known about the role of the

limbic system in the perception of pleasure.We could consider aesthetic perception as the

processing of the visual centres in the brain

such as V1 in the visual cortexWe also know that the brain processes

patterns in its continual quest for knowledge.We also know that the more quickly and more

accurately we can represent a pattern the

more enjoyable it is, e.g. we recognise the

face of a mother, father or child more quickly.Patterns that are ambiguous will increase the

number of interpretations we generate. The

more interpretations the more information we

need to process as well as the potential

uncertainty we feel.Patterns include:

- visual layouts, such as pages, and therefore

a pages overall symmetry;- elements within visual layouts (recognition of

detail e.g. a specific feature or function such

as the carousel);- the flow or interaction between pages.All these elements have an aesthetic that

needs to be considered when designing them.

The aesthetic is not just the colour or

arrangement, and it is also more than the

total combined elements. Aesthetics have a

Gestalt-like effect.

mental models

Maybe brain concepts are the

building blocks of mental models?

We could be synthesising both

acquired and inherited brain

concepts into mental models.

Understanding the link could help us

to design better systems, objects

and experience because we can

assure greater alignment of the

design properties to reflect not just

our mental models but how they are

constructed by the brain.

design patterns: cardsAnother design pattern that is emerging in the digital world is the

use of cards to present and control

the flow of information.All the major digital players are adopting cards and I believe one of

the benefits of using cards is that

they embrace future-friendly thinking. We have mental models

for using cards. This means cards

can naturally support responsive

design and the fashionable flat design aesthetic.

Cards are not new and have used to

present information over along period of time e.g. Top Trumps.Let’s look at two twitter examples of

cards.

The iPhone and iPad version of

twitter showing the discovery

option.

You can see how the information is

compartmentalised and works very

well on devices with smaller screens

than desktop or laptop computers.

I think designing using

Neuroaesthetics insights and

understanding requires a much

broader more holistic approach. It

requires a polymorphous design

thinking attitude - no single

perspective is right or wrong.

The user interface in the recent

Oblivion movie have lots of cards!

Hollywood movie user interface

designers obviously believe they are

the future. However, whilst the

image is beautiful I think the idea of

big physical screens may not

represent the technology trajectory

we are headed on. The user

interface does not utilise many of

our senses and it certainly does not

combined them to augment how we

use information.

micro-macro perspective

We need to adopt a micro-macro

perspective.

Neuroaesthetics is teaching us that

everything is important and a micro-

macro practice considers both the

atomic elements of the design that

can be reduced, as well as, the

design from an holistic (ecological)

perspective.

Everything matters and therefore

everything should be considered.

beauty/style/aesthetic

So beauty, style, aesthetics -

whatever we call it we know they

are all very important.

Yet beauty is much more than

appearance. We aspire to beauty in

all that surrounds us from

architecture, to fashion,

products...well everything we

design. Beauty is meaning. We

don't just see beauty, we feel it.

The more beautiful something is the

likely we are to share it!

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

ConfuciusWe need to see the beauty in

everything and heed the wisdom of

Confucius.

Thank you for your attention