6 May
2026
6 May
'26
10:05 a.m.
Dear All,
The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to the following talk:
Merle
Fairhurst<https://tu-dresden.de/ing/elektrotechnik/ias/aha/die-professur/Mitarbeiter/merle-fairhurst>,
Chair of Social Affective
Touch<https://tu-dresden.de/ing/elektrotechnik/ias/socialtouch>, Dresden University
of Technology
In this talk, I will present some of my recent studies investigating how we coordinate our
movements in time with groups of others as well as my projects on virtual touch. I will
propose that as a fundamentally social species, we are able to fulfill our need to feel
connected to others by either inferring colocation in space or some form of joint action.
Principally, my work investigates how we do this by using our senses to dynamically
exchange social information with others. The work presented will highlight how these
topics allow me to combine novel technologies. In the first half of the talk, I will show
examples by presenting preliminary data from two group coordination studies, one using
virtual reality and the other employing a Zoom-based version of the improvisational
theatre Mirror Game combined with Motion Energy Analysis. I will then move onto discussing
our recent and ongoing experiments that make use of both virtual reality and our mobile
application "HandsOn" to probe individual touch behaviours and preferences.
Date and time: Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 13:30
!!PLEASE NOTE THE IRREGULAR STARTING TIME!! (Journal Club will start at 4:00pm in room
D-001 Tiered)
Venue: QS D-001 Tiered
Zoom: https://ceu-edu.zoom.us/j/62475987093?pwd=6dQc9z4CivOUdPjKCFsTKEFn3gtESS.1
Meeting ID: 624 7598 7093
Passcode: 291703
Host: Luke McEllin
*Anyone not affiliated with CEU wishing to attend in-person in Vienna must RSVP to get
access to the lecture hall.
Best regards,
Andi
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