Dear All, 

The CEU Department of Cognitive Science cordially invites you to the following talk: 

Merle Fairhurst, Chair of Social Affective Touch, 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