[ID Discuss] AI and UI design.

[id at ourbrisbane.com]

Quoting Andy Watson <awatson at attglobal.net>:
> Has anyone else done any research into the effect on Mirror Neurons with
> regard to inanimate objects.  It seems to me most of it is currently being
> done on people interaction.

Now that's another interesting take on design - looking at the more granular,
neurophysiological reactions...

There's been quite a bit of research done recently that explains what I think
you may be driving at, but at a higher level of abstraction (systems and
process, rather than neurophysiological actions and cause).  Norman, Ortony &
Revelle have (based on the work of Sloman -
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/cogaff/sloman.vienna99.pdf ) divided the brain
into three basic systems: The visceral; The behavioural; and The reflective (or
Rfelection; Routine; Reaction -
http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/421/norman.pdf ).

The first half of Norman's latest book, "Emotional Design" explains the recent
theories on this division of systems within the brain quite eloquently.  For a
precis, have a read of:
http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/EDesign-PeopleThings.html

> If this is true, then it seems to me that the art of designing something is
> to place it in the context of the culture that it is being created for in
> such a way that it develops pleasant emotions. 

"It depends."

Something that I don't think is explored in the abovementioned essays is the
fact that not all affect should be positive (creating positive emotions) when we
design artefacts.  Sometimes negative affect can be useful.  Calculating correct
intervals of negative affect are necessary for designing systems that require
certain levels of diligence (such as airport security, air traffic control,
medical or defense monitoring systems).

I hope this helps.

Best regards,

Ash Donaldson
"It depends."
User Experience Designer