Communicating in 3D: research at Lowlands festival

For the fourth consecutive year scientists will be carrying out experiments at the Lowlands festival in Biddinghuizen. Ten research teams were selected from the submitted proposals and these teams will use Lowlands as a laboratory. One of those teams is representing Nijmegen’s MPI and Radboud University.

Talking in 3D

How do you communicate when you’re at a noisy music festival? You probably shout or use hand gestures, but is this the best way to get your message across? And does it make a difference if the person you are talking to is looking at your eyes, hands or mouth?

A team of researchers (James Trujillo, Linda Drijvers, Kimberley Mulder, Judith Holler and Asli Ozyurek) from Radboud University and the MPI want to test this by using 3D communication. Microsoft Kinect and eye tracking glasses will be used to follow speech and facial, eye and body movements while you talk to someone. It is hoped that the results of the experiments will contribute to new treatment methods for people with language, communication or hearing problems.

Lowlands Science

Lowlands Science is a popular part of Lowlands where scientific experiments are carried out during the festival. Every year Lowlands, BKB | Het Campagnebureau and New Scientist invite scientists to submit a research proposal. Take a look at all this year’s experiments on the Lowlands website.

If you would like more information, please contact:

• Media Relations Office - Radboud University, media [at] ru.nl (media[at]ru[dot]nl, )+31 (0)24 361 6000