At the Crossroad of BioSimulation and Design: Novel Codes in Bi-modal Representation of Blood Flow

“Is it by law or by nature that the image of Mickey Mouse reminds us of a mouse?” - Umberto Eco (1) Despite being produced and existing independently, images and sounds innately complement each other. As our research consists of blood flow simulations with direct and critical use in the clinic, we strive to achieve the most accurate representation that is faithful to the actuality of the physiological process as well as clear to interpret and understand. Departing from our early engineering-style visualizations, by engaging with visual and sound artists, designers and cognitive scientists, we developed a carousel-style prototype that brings together visual and aural simulations of patient data in an original and innovative way. As a multi-disciplinary team working on such an interdisciplinary project we experience immense satisfaction but also face equally great challenges. One such challenge is the ability to communicate the results between collaborators, as well as to the clinicians (our target audience) and not least to the patient and the lay public at large, ultimately. Due to the novelty of the prototype created, in the process of generating these audio-visual simulations we entered uncharted semiotic territory and had to create our own codes for communication. At the same time, we acknowledge that fact of having built upon established conventions in order to be able to initiate a clear transfer of information between disciplines. Moreover, in the choices made, we had to take into account that our simulations were to be safe from misinterpretations and misunderstandings anywhere in the world, in any laboratory, clinic or patient’s home. From the patient-collected data, through the initial round of encoding and decoding (x-ray, Magnetic Resonance, Ultra-Sound images) to the final virtual bi-modal representation, a series of selections are made, and possibilities explored. When generating the visual step of the carousel, for instance, some features receive priority, some are placed into a subordinate position and other are just excluded, being considered irrelevant. The following steps rely upon these selections and so does the meaning they carry, thus one could reason that each step of the process can be viewed as a Peircean interpretation. Operating in non-dyadic circumstances, one can argue that our search is crossing through anthropo-, bio-, computational and cognitive semiotics as it strives to realize a non-verbal communication system that relies upon visual and aural contextual cues, but is bound to create a code that precedes whilst reflecting cultural conventions. Such crossing of disciplinary boundaries does appear evocative of the geometric definition of trajectory, which brings us into the fold of this year’s theme. To conclude, and returning to the opening quote, we reflect upon the relationship between Cratylus and Mickey Mouse: what is the position of our work vis-à-vis the understanding of signifier. To address this question, as well as other related matters we would like to present our research as a case study in the context of the World Congress of Semiotics. Reference: 1 – Umberto Eco, Kant and the Platypus: Essays on Language and Cognition (McEwan, Alastair, trans.), p 339, San Diego: A Harvest Book (Harcourt)
País: 
Canadá
Temas y ejes de trabajo: 
Semiótica y ciencias biológicas
Semióticas de los lenguajes visuales, sonoros y audiovisuales
Institución: 
University of Toronto, BioMedical Simulation Lab
Mail: 
dolores@mie.utoronto.ca

Más expositores para este abstract

Peter Coppin and David Steinman

Estado del abstract

Estado del abstract: 
Accepted
Desarrollado por gcoop.