IsThereAPlaceInHumanConsciousnessWhereSurveillanceCannotGo?Noor:ABrainOpera

EllenPearlman

SchoolofCreativeMedia,HongKongCityUniversity,KowloonTong,HongKongellenluminescense@gmail.com

Abstract.Aplethoraofglobalinitiativeswhosegoalistomapeveryneuroninthehumanbrainareunderway(SocietyForNeuroscience2015).Theseinvestigationshavereleasesanabundanceofnewtechnologies,researchandmethods.Theyalsoraisequestionsconcerningprivacy,surveillance,autonomyandconsciousness.Arewenothingmorethanourelectroencephalographs(EEGs),functionalmagneticresonanceimages(fMRIs)andotherbiometricdata?Inthefuturecouldthisinformationbeusedforsecurityidentification,thoughtreeducationandmanipulatingmemories?Currently,newtypesofconsumer-gradebrainsensorsarebeingdevelopedformedicalapplications,thoughtheyarealsoappropriatedforartisticexplorations.Whatkindofdramaticstructures,interventions,methodologiesandcontextswillemergeasthebrainitselfbeginstodrivetheperformanceexperience?TometaphoricallyrespondtothesequestionsIhavedevelopedaninteractive‘brainopera’Noor(whichtranslatesas‘light’inArabic)basedonasimplequestion,“Isthereaplaceinhumanconsciousnesswheresurveillancecannotgo?”

Keywords:posthuman,consciousness,brain,surveillance,EEG,HCI,brainmapping,BCI

IntroductionTherehasbeenariseintheuseofconsumer-gradeelectroencephalograph(EEG)brainreaders,orBrainComputerInterfaces(BCIs)bycontemporaryartists(Duenyas2012),(Abramovic2011),(Park2013),(Withers2015),creatinginteractiveperformancesbasedontrackedandreadablestatesofmind.Duringthe1960sand1970s,musiciansAlvinLucier,RichardTeitelbaumandDavidRosenboomexperimentedwiththecontrolsourcesofbiofeedbackandbrainwavesproducingsoniceventsthatplayedup,enhancedandcompletelyreinventedtheiroriginalsourcematerial.LuciercollaboratedwithphysicistEdmundDewant,makingMusicforSoloPerformer(Lucier1965),thefirstbrainwavemusiccompositionperformanceusingEEGelectrodes.Inthe1973filmHomagetoJohnCagebyvideoartistNamJunePaik(1973),CageworeelectrodesstrappedtohisforeheadwhilePaikfiddledwiththeknobsonatransmissionwavebox.ThatsameyearartistNinaSobellcreated‘brainwavedrawings(Sobell1974).Theseinitialexperimentsvalidatedthebrainasadevicethatcouldproducemusicandart,usuallythroughthespecificmentalstatesoffocusandmeditationmeasuredbyanalphaorbetawavesignal.Thesesignalsaretheoneartistsemploythroughoutmostoftheirpresentations.WhenmorecomplexenvironmentsandmoresophisticatedbrainEEGreadersareused,additionalmentalstatescanbeaccessed,openingupnewspheresofinquiryintheperformanceenvironment.

BrainPerformanceAsSurveillanceWatchingasubject’sbrainwaveslivetimecanmimictheperformancetheaterofasurveillancestate,whetheritissimulatedintheprosceniumorobservedbyfaceless,anonymousmonitorsduringsurreptitiousinterrogations.Performanceitselfhasalongtraditionofspectatorshipandvoyeurism,andofrevealinghiddenmotivesandintentions.Nowbrainwavereadingsarebeginningtobestoredinprivatedatabanksandscatteredthroughoutthecomputingcloud(Leborgne2015)(Syntrogi/Qusp2016).Smoothingalgorithmsaboutvariousbiometricstatescancurrentlyquantifiablycategorizethatinformation.Whenpersonaldataexpandstoincludebrainstates,theabilitytoclassifyandsortinformationaccordingtodesirableoutcomesimpliesanewtypeofcontrolanddiscrimination.Imprintsofouractionscanwindupinthehandsofthewrongpeople(McGrath2004).Thiscategorizationfacilitatestiersofprivilegeandaccessthatcouldbeselectivelydoledouttodifferentindividualsandgroups.Thisnewlandscapeor‘surveillancespace’also

mimicsthecontrolatheaterdirectorhasoveraplay,orthecontrolauthoritieshaveoverdesigningandimplementingsurveillancescenarios.

AsBCIsbecomeaffordableandhackable,theinvestigationofthatinternalcognitivespacealsobecomesaccessibletoartists.Artistshavecreatedworksusingsurveillance-relatedtechnologytodisruptnormalaudienceresponsesallowingeveryone,includingsubjectsandaudience,toviewnormallyhiddenprocesses.Thisprovokesthe‘possibilityofagency’oftheperson,artistoraudiencememberusedasatestsubject.AnewlyadaptivetheaterofsurveillancedrivenbyBCIdevicesisarrivingallowingthissametypeofenvironmenttomakebrainprocessesvisiblefortheaudiencemembers,eitherthroughmonitoringperformers,orbyaccessingthebrainsofwillingaudiencevolunteers.Throughanagencyofexcess,suchastheintimacyoflookingatpeople’slivetimebrainfeedswhiletheyaresittingrightinfrontofyou,theemotionalimpactofwhatoneislookingatsubvertstheplaneofsymbolicrepresentationbeingplayedoutonthestage.Whentheperformativesurveillantspaceincorporatesbrainsensors,thedisruptionandreversaloftraditionalaudiencescenarioschanges.Theaudienceimpactsthelivedspacebetweenthemselvesandtheperformersinunavoidable,butauthenticways.

Theresearchfromusingmedicalbraindevicestoaidpeoplewithdisabilitiesisalsoopeningupnewvistasintothecapacitytousethebraininwaysthatechoesadvancesinstrategicmilitarycombat.ResearchersattheUniversityofWashington(Rao,Stocca,Bryanetal.2014)producedthefirstnon-invasivehuman-to-braininterfacebyasking,‘Caninformationthatisavailableinthebrainbetransferreddirectlyintheformoftheneuralcode,bypassinglanguagealtogether?’EEGscannowdecodemotorintentionsfroma‘sender’brain,andTranscranialMagneticStimulation(TMS)candeliveranequivalentmotorcommandtothemotorcortexofa‘receiver’brain.Thisisextremelyimportantaseventuallyremote,magneticorothertypesofstimuluscouldbeusedtoconveyinformationbraintobrain,orsurveildifferentbrainstatesincaptivepopulationslikeprisonsormentalhospitals.NowdronesandplanescanberemotelyactivatedthroughthoughtspickedupbyEEGbraincaps(Brainflight,EuropeanUnion2012–2014),(Woollaston2015)(Tekever2015).ThesedevicesarealsobeingdeployedforaerialsurveillanceandATLASsecuritytestdrills.Thus,anew‘theatreofwar’anda‘theatreofsurveillance’drivenbythemedicalBCIsaredevelopingalmostintandem.Formerlyinaccessiblestatesofsubjectivitylikecognition,analysisanddecisionswithoutneuromuscularfollow-thoughcanbeencodedtospecificallylaunchweaponsofdestruction.Itcanbearguedthatintentionality,andthereforeactionshavealwayscreatedthissituation.Thedifference,however,isthiscanbenowbeaccomplishedpurelythroughtheuseofacognitiveinterface.

TheEmotivheadset,aportableconsumerandprofessionalgradeEEGdevicereadschangesinelectricalactivityinthebrain(Emotiv.com2014).Thosechangesaremappedtovariousemotions,facialmovements,eye,eyelidandeyebrowpositions,smiles,laughter,clenchedteeth,smirks,andevenvirtualavatars.Thedevicetrackssixspecificdirectionsinascreendisplay;left,right,up,down,forwardand‘zoom’ordepth,aswellassixrotations;counterclockwise,leftandright,backwardandforwardandoneinterestingonereferredtoas‘disappear’.Billionsofneuronsareconstantlyinteractingwithoneanother,emittingtinyelectricalimpulses.IttakesonlyeightsecondsusingEmotiv’ssoftwaretocalibratethespecificcontoursandfoldpatternsofanyoneindividual’sbrain,aprocesssouniqueitisakintoahumanfingerprint.Bothconsciousandnon-consciouscontenthasbeenmappedforaccuracyintothesoftware’salgorithmtoaccountforvariationsinthebrain’smultiplefoldingpatterns.WhatscientistsatEmotivdidwasremapthosesignalsbacktotheirsourceinaspecificareaofthebrain.TheEmotivreadsandtranslatestheseelectricalimpulseswithalatencyofabout150milliseconds,thoughdependingonwhatinterfacesoftwareartistsuse,thattimeframecanvary.

Itisbecomingimportantforartistswhoaretechnologicallysavvyandastutetoaddresswhatcanonlybecalled‘thedecadeofthebrain’,andtoexploretheimplicationsoftheseissuesthroughtheirvariousartpractices.Mycurrentpracticefocusesondevelopingacreative“brainopera”performanceusinganEmotivEEGbrainsensortoindirectlyaddresstheseissues.Theopera,called“Noor”whichtranslatesinArabicas‘light’,asksoneverysimplequestion–“Isthereaplaceinhumanconsciousnesswheresurveillancecannotgo?Myreasonforcreatingthisoperaisthatwhatyoucansayinanacademicpaper,andwhatyoucandiscussinanartisticperformancearetwodifferentthings.Withintheconfinesofthisnascenttechnologicallandscape,asenseofself,orprivateself,isgoingtobeexposedandpotentiallyviolatedinasurfeitofovertandcovertwaysmostofushaveneverimaginedorexperienced.Withintheconfinesofashortperformance,metaphorandallegory,soundandwords,andinteractivitysuggests,butdoesnotnametheseconcerns.

Noor–ABrainOpera“Noor-ABrainOpera”islooselybasedonthetruestoryofNoorInayatKhan,aRussianborn,EuropeanraisedSufiMuslimPrincesswhosefatherHazaratInayatKhanbroughtSufismtotheWest.DuringWWIINoorvolunteeredasacovertwirelessoperatorforBritishIntelligencebyparachutingdeepinsideoccupiedVichyruledFrance.ForaperiodofthreemonthsNoor(codenamed“Nora”)wastheonlycommunicationslinktransmittingcriticalinformationbacktotheAllies.CaughtbytheGestapo,whowereunabletobreakhertofindoutanyinformationconcerninghertransmissioncell,NoorwasshotinsidetheinfamousDachauprisonshortlybeforetheendofthewar.Noorisusedasmetaphortoworkwithissuesofsurveillance,privacy,andfaith.

Databanksofvideo,audioandaspokenwordlibrettocorrelatingtofourbasicmentalstatesmostaccessibletotheEmotivheadsetareused:interest,excitement,meditation,andfrustration.Thealgorithmsandmachinelearningcapabilitiesoftheheadsetpre-determinetherangeofemotionsreflectedbythebrainwavestates.Thesedatabanks,whichlooselycontaininformationrelatingbothtothethemeofthestoryandtodifferentemotionalstatesarelaunchedintandemwhentheperformerattainsaspecifiedthresholdofabrainwave.Thebrainwavethresholdisdeterminedbycarefulmeasurementoftheindividualperformer’sresponseovertime,andinavarietyofsituations,aseachperson’sreadingsareunique.Thedatarangeisbetween0and1.Forexample,themeditationthresholdissettolaunchwhenitisgreaterthan.450,andtheexcitementthresholdlauncheswhenitisgreaterthan.650.Thereisanapproximatelytensecondlagbetweentheimplementationofthebrainwavestateoftheperformer,andthelauncheddatabanksofsound,imageandthelibretto.Iwasunsuccessfulinchangingthislagsinceitisinherenttothecombinationofsoftware,hardwareandmiddlewaredeployed.

Thetriggeredvideos,withtheiraccompanyingsoundsandlibrettoareprojectedthroughaseriesofMAX/MspcommandsandportedovertoIsadora,wheretheyareprojectedontoacircularfifteen-foothigh360-degreeimmersivetheatrescreen.SoundandaspokenlibrettoareaddedthroughAbletonLive.Fortheactualperformance,the‘actor’wearingtheheadsetinteractsdirectlywiththeaudiencemembers.Thereisnoseatinginsidethetheatre,justtheabilitytostandorsitonthecarpetedfloor.Theactor’sbrainwaveswillalsobeprojectedlive-timeononeofthefivescreensforalltosee.

Figure1.Testingveryfirstiterationof“Noor–ABrainOpera”withMoonRebasoftheCyborgFoundationonAugust27,2015atHarvestworks,NY.PhotobyEllenPearlman

Figure2.Testingfivescreenstriggeredbyperformer(offcamera).Therearefouremotions:interest,excitement,meditationandfrustration.Thefifthscreeninthelowerrightisshowingcolouredbubblesoflivetimebrainwaves.PhotobyEllenPearlman

Figure3.PerformerSabaAratandchoreographerDavidLeungtrainingSaba,whoiswearingtheEmotivheadsetunderherhair,tointeractwithpotentialaudiencemembers.Phototakenat360Theatre,SchoolofCreativeMedia,HongKongCityUniversity,January

6,2016.PhotobyEllenPearlman

Figure4.Workingonfixingresolutionof360screenusingIsadora

Figure5–Initialtestimageoffourbrainwavestates:white,red,green,bluecorrespondingtofouremotionalstates

ConclusionGovernment,coupledwithprivatefundinghasincreasedresearchaboutthehumanbrain.Banksofbigdataandtheabilitytominethatdataforavarietyofpurposeshaveincreasedaswell.Someofthetechnologiesusedtomonitorthebraincouldconceivablyleadtoatypeof‘brainfingerprinting’,andintroducenewwaystosurveilandviolateanindividual’sprivacy.Aneweraofartistsisexploringhumancomputerinteraction.“Noor–ABrainOpera”isasmallcontributiontowardsaddressingtheloomingthreataboutbrainsurveillance,andcontributingtothegrowingbodyofworkonbraincomputerinteractionintheperformativesphere.

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