02/06

Testing 3

//Memory Identification With Systemic Questioning

The memory identification was naturally pretty different this time than previously, being conducted by someone professional. My friend who i asked to take over this part is a cognitive behavioral psychotherapist who has finished the formal part of her training and has been working as a therapist for several years now. The questioning she did was systematic: She sat face to face on chairs with the participant, i was sitting behind the participant, out of sight, taking notes. 

First she asked if the participant preferred to look for memories freely or if they would rather go through their life chronologically. They chose the former. Where i just asked to “try going back into the scene, try to remember all sensations, impressions, etc.”, all the deepening and recall of the memories happened in the talking. She asked the participant to describe the memory in different ways, basic questions like: “Where were you, describe the surroundings”, “How did you feel”, “What did it smell like?” but also many that i did not ask, like: “What colour would this memory have”, “What object would represent this memory?”. She persisted on filling out each of these questions for each memory, until a satisfactory level of detail was reached. During this, one could see how the participant had to really go into the memory in order to answer these questions. 

This style of questioning, which in other contexts can include questions like: “If __ was an animal, what would it be?” comes from the systemic school of psychotherapy and is used to bring the participant to associate and understand things in relation to each other. In this case, to understand the core components of a memories’ atmosphere, internal function and narrative. 

Specifically the colour question was immediately interesting, i added a small multi-coloured sphere to each of the memory spheres, that could use the colours connected to the memory. It hovers right above the text and can help solidify the association, now also by the way of colour.

//Testing Results

Doing the memory identification like this took an hour. We took a break afterwards and then delved into the VR application. The tutorial teaching the controls took a bit more time than with the other candidates, which i attribute to this participant not having any previous experience with VR controls. It was a noticeable improvement in how much the text explained and how much i had to explain myself though.  

The palace construction itself though went largely like before, the participant placed rooms intuitively and put the objects into the space. The path between the platforms was more clear now, and placing the memory spheres with the colours added a new aspect. The recall test afterwards also had good results, the participant could recite the memory journey without mistakes and starting from either place and in any direction. 

A feature that i had been thinking about since pretty early on, the necessity of which now becoming even more apparent would be locking the rotation of the rooms onto a plane. This palace specifically features rooms that are rather steep and jaggedly placed into each other, which did not necessarily seem to hinder the recall, but definitely made movement through the palace less smooth and messier. The participant noted that the process was still fun though, despite of the unfinished controls. They also reported a positive affect after identifying the memories and enjoyed the humor of some of the objects aswell. Otherwise was the feedback pretty similar, they like the concept and building the palace, the recall worked well, but the controls and tutorial could be improved.  

Here the full Memory Journey of the third round of testing, for comparison with the earlier ones:

Colored orb in memory sphere

Placing memory objects in mid-air

Full third journey from above with faded in logo

Looking back at the palace from above

Full video of the third memory journey: Palace Construction

Full video of the third memory journey: Memory Anchoring

//Memory Journey 3

• Start at first Platform

• Small German Town Main Street

  • 1. Object: Chair hovers over intersection

    • Memory: Sitting on a huge metal lion as a child with grandparents and parents at the zoo, Age 5

    • ID: Metal Lion Zoo

    • Impressions/Scene:  “I look adorable”, wearing scratchy knit hat, too warm, the lion is cold, hard and slippery, animal enclosures in sight

    • Feeling: Excitement, Joy, feeling active, feeling mighty & powerful

    • Colour: Brown, green-gray (colour of lion, and the weather)

    • Connection: The lion sits on the chair

• Harbour Arches

  • 2. Object: Camera taking a picture of the ceiling

    • Memory: Applying for a course of studies, 2020

    • ID: Application Studying

    • Impressions/Scene: At home, not super warm, relaxed rest of the day

    • Feeling: Success, feeling content, relief, joy, optimism, excitement, nervousness, feeling of new beginning

    • Colour: Orange-Yellow (no specific explanation)

    • Connection: A snapshot of the scenery appears on the camera screen

  • 3. Object: Ukulele between stuff

    • Memory: New Years 23/24, 

    • ID: New Yeras 23/24

    • Impressions/Scene: Birthday of a friend, doing an improvised gameshow, diner table in the living room of the friends, smell of the friends flat and their pets

    • Feeling: Group-feeling, fun, letting loose, 

    • Colour: blue-silver (no specific explanation)

    • Connection: On the wall at the friends flat during partying

• Small German Town Intersection

  • 4. Object: Loop vase on balcony

    • Memory: Picking up their cats, both still very small, ~2 Years Ago

    • ID: Cats Arrive

    • Impressions/Scene:  the cats explore the flat for the first time, helpless, smell of cats, mens deodorant and smoke, from the breeder

    • Feeling: a little concern & anxiety but mostly responsibility and profound joy

    • Colour: black & white 

    • Connection: Trying to grill with the urn, making a fire inside

  • 5. Object: Urn in alleyway

    • Memory: Barbeque/Picnic with friends, about 5-6 years ago

    • Semi Successful Barbeque Park

    • Impressions/Scene: cool summer, sitting in the park, smelling algae-rich water smoke, barbeque, hearing background conversation of people 

    • Feeling: Connectedness, fun, it’s okay if it’s not perfect, being in the moment

    • Colour: Bright pink, a little yellow

    • Connection: One of the plants we had to remove because of the cats

• Rondell

  • 6. Object: Knight on top of the statue

    • Memory: Learning to inline skate with grandparents, age 7

    • ID: Inline Skating Grandparents

    • Impressions/Scene: Grandpa very proud, by the trashbins, old oaktree, sunny, not hot, earthy and grassy smell

    • Feeling: success, cool, validated, free, proud

    • Colour: very light green

    • Connection: Knight has grandpas face and inline skates

• Nuclear Plant

  • 7. Object: Grated cheese on nuclear control panel

    • Memory: Final session of partners pen and paper campaign, 1-2years ago

    • ID: [Partner’s] Campaign Finale

    • Impressions/Scene: Afternoon, autumn, at the table with the friends, miniatures and maps, smelling of disinfectant, sound of medieval background music and voices

    • Feeling: community, fun, excitement, funny, thrilling, heroic, a journey together

    • Colour: light green of the map, grey and white stones of the miniatures

    • Connection: Snacking fistfuls of grated cheese during the campaign

• Plaza

  • 8. Object: Packages beside park

    • Memory: Holiday with partner at a spa, 2 years ago

    • ID: Spa Holiday [Partner]

    • Impressions/Scene:  sauna area, otherwise empty, heated stone benches, smell of humid air from tha saunas, early afternoon

    • Feeling: bliss, closeness, love, trust, relaxation, calm

    • Colour: beige & brown (sauna interior)

    • Connection: Opening the box, zooming inside, a sauna in the box, similar colour

• Lego

  • 9. Object: Cat atop pillar 

    • Memory: Gave partner a very nice gift, last year

    • Gift for [Partner]

    • Impressions/Scene:  Partner was very happy about it, “Do you wanna wait?” “No, i wanna open it now!”, nice packaging, drinking tea, sound of shifting chairs

    • Feeling: anticipation, joy, validation

    • Colour: black & white 

    • Connection: The cat looks like one of their cats, which was watching the unwrapping, big eyed

• Train Station

  • 10. Object: Suitcase in nook 

    • Memory: After birthday going to the bookstore with many book coupons, age 12

    • ID: Birthday Book Coupon Haul

    • Impressions/Scene: Big bag of books, paid with coupons, shelf with fantasy books, info counter at the store, musty perfume smell of the clerk

    • Feeling: euphoria, anticipation to get home and read, indulgence

    • Colour: warm bordeaux red 

    • Connection: The suitcase is heavy because its filled completely with books

• Ruins

  • 11. Object: Teapot on ruin wall

    • Memory: found the perfect 10/10 chocolate cereal, recent

    • ID: 10/10 Chocolate Cereal

    • Impressions/Scene: at home, at the kitchen table, alone at noon, taste and mouthfeel of the cereal, 

    • Feeling: hungry, content, satisfied, surprise its so good, anticipation

    • Colour: eggshell white, light brown

    • Connection: The cereal comes pouring out of the teapot

• Museum

  • 12. Object: Banana on pedestal

    • Memory: Being a year abroad, on a hiking trip

    • ID: [Country] Hiking Trip

    • Impressions/Scene: hiked for six hours, taking in the view atop, warm but not too warm, small black backpack, sound 

    • Feeling: a little concern & anxiety but mostly responsibility and profound joy

    • Colour: black & white 

    • Connection: The banana zips open, is a backpack

• Stairs

  • 13. Object: Burger in tree

    • Memory: A moment of just sitting on the couch watching a show with partner, recent

    • ID: Watching [Series] with [Partner]

    • Impressions/Scene:  living room, teapot and cups on the table, voices, tv noises

    • Feeling: relaxation, excited, anticipation, joy, sharing the moment

    • Colour: grey of the sofa 

    • Connection: Eating the burger watching the series

• Jungle Ruin

  • 14. Object: Sack of cement on rubble

    • Memory: Alone at a natural history museum, age 19

    • ID: Natural History Museum Summer

    • Impressions/Scene: hot summer outside, nice and cool inside, doing something alone, skeleton of a moose, dusty museum smell, stone

    • Feeling: relief, curiosity, joy

    • Colour: yellow 

    • Connection: Sack lies in savannah part of the museum, which was under construction

  • 15. Object: Hedgehog between pillars

    • Memory: First convention without parents, 2011

    • ID: First [Event Name]

    • Impressions/Scene:  Cosplaying, with friends, no adults, lawn of the event, carrying small red digital camera, music in the background, warm and sweaty

    • Feeling: confused, thrilled, overstimulated, excitement, high energy

    • Colour: bright orange 

    • Connection: One of the cosplayers is carrying the plushie hedgehog

Journey 3 Recall Sheet