Illustrating the Mind ( continued )
ARTICLES
Illustrating the Mind ( continued )
STEM to STEAM
T . von Kármán said that “ Scientists explore what is and engineers create what has never been ,” and a standard definition of engineering is that it combines the study of mathematics and natural sciences to direct the forces of nature for the service of humankind . Leaving aside the blurred boundaries between engineering , technology , and applied science , and expanding to “ creation for the service of humanity ” makes a place for the Arts in STEM .
To visualise ordinary mental activity , 8s signatures are calculated from the T7 and T8 electrodes ( over the temporal lobes each side of the brain ), and assembled into an image with the hemispheres of the brain in the upper and lower halves , with frequency as the vertical axis , and time , left to right , as the horizontal axis . The top half is the left hemisphere , and for each hemisphere , the highest frequencies are at the centreline , i . e ., the lowest frequencies are top and bottom . The moment values describing the uniformity of the signals at a given frequency are used to set the hue , or colour . The final image is then processed using VEE , Visual Evolution Engine software [ 2 ], which transforms the EEG image with the sole purpose of making it more interesting visually : this is the “ A ” in STEAM .
( A )
( B )
3 minutes | 5 minutes | 3 minutes
3 minutes | 5 minutes | 3 minutes
( C )
3 minutes | 5 minutes | 3 minutes
Figure 2 shows visualisations calculated from 11 minutes of EEG data from three volunteers including myself . For the first three minutes , each subject sat quietly with their eyes closed ; for the next 5 minutes , they listened to music with eyes closed ; and for the final three minutes , they again sat quietly . ( The subjects selected different music — there is no accounting for taste !)
28 SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 3