Multi-participant response system: Collecting interactive behavioural ratings and reaction times in 100 people simultaneously

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Humans have created complex cultures, civilizations and associated technologies. One critical prerequisite for this was the evolution of the ability for people to interact, cooperate, and to form shared goals. Indeed, performing an action and watching another person perform that action activate similar areas of the brain, forming the basis of how we understand the thoughts and behaviours of others. To date, the vast majority of neuroscience research has focused on individuals, but in real life situations the mutual flow of information among people forms very complex dynamical systems. The LIVELab was created two years ago to study how the brains of multiple people interact in complex realistic situations. It is a unique, specially-constructed 106-seat performance hall containing state-of-the-art equipment to study, for example, non-verbal communication between musicians and between audience members. Physiological responses (e.g., heart rate, breathing, skin conductance, brain waves [EEG]) and body movements (motion capture) can be measured in multiple performers and audience members simultaneously. From this, we construct detailed models of how people’s brains interact and are affected by those around them in different situations. To fully interpret the motion capture and physiological data, we also need reports from audience members about what they are seeing and hearing. The proposed custom-fabricated Interactive Response System simultaneously gathers data from 106 wireless response pads controlled from a high-throughput network server. The system will be able to push text, images and video to the response pads and collect answers to different question types such as yes/no, multiple choice, drop-down menu and continuous slider. Much can be learned from how quickly people respond to particular sounds and images, so the system will have millisecond timing accuracy when measuring the latency of responses. The system will be synchronized in time with, for example, EEG and motion capture data, so people’s reports can be analyzed with respect to how synchronized their brains and movements are with others in the audience and on stage. The Interactive Response System will advance our knowledge in the natural sciences by enabling cutting-edge research on human interaction. Fundamental understanding of how people interact in complex realistic environments will benefit Canadians through applications to populations with social deficits (e.g., Autism), public policy (e.g., creating social programs that take into account how humans interact) and business (e.g., developing optimal teams; promoting optimal negotiation strategies).