Tech And Television – How Does It Impact On You?

We all enjoy watching television, but how do modern devices impact on the way in which we process emotive scenes?

Let's face facts; if our favourite television shows didn't resonate with us or trigger our emotions, we'd scarcely take the time to watch them.

Historically, however, truly emotive viewing experiences were associated with live entertainment, or heading to the local cinema to watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster on the big screen. Advancements in technology have changed this, by enabling us to enjoy seminal television moments on a host of different devices.

Thanks to online electrical retailer ao.com and Liverpool's prestigious John Moores University, attempts have been made to understand the effects of viewing emotive TV scenes and movie clips on modern devices such as large screen, 4K televisions. Here's some of the most interesting findings:

Now for the Science – How Did the Study Work?

This innovative study involved a total of 21 participants, each of which was asked to view carefully selected scenes from the nation's most popular TV shows. These scenes were shown to provoke feelings of happiness, sadness, fear and anxiety, which the images shown on a 50”, 4K Samsung television.

This is apparently the average size of a television screen in the modern, UK residence, so it offers the best embodiment of the home viewing experience in 2018.

Now for the science; as respondents were hooked up to a variety of sensors on their fingers as they watched the scenes. These were used to carefully measure each individual's skin conductance, while electrodes were used to track the muscle movements on various parts of the face.

Participants were then asked to explain how they felt after each scene, to identify the difference between how we think we feel and the truth about how we actually interpret individual moments.

What did the Study Reveal?

The study took in a number of popular programs, including I Am Legend, Planet Earth, La La Land and the hit Netflix series Stranger Things.

One scene from the latter show revealed some extremely interesting findings, as this article reveals. We all remember when the much-loved Barb was killed in the third episode of Season One, for example, and when participants began watching this scene the corrugator muscles at the eyebrow (which are sensitive to the influence of emotional valence) stood at a rating of 50. Once Barb tragically disappears and is presumed dead, however, this rating soars to more than 300 and highlights the impact that scenes of this nature have within the human mind.

Interestingly, respondents did not necessarily feel that this scene was as impactful as the evidence suggested, which is why the use of psychophysiological measurements proved so insightful. After all, these techniques reveal changes in emotional experience that are not always evident or capable of being observed by the naked eye, and can therefore highlight just how emotive viewing experiences are in the modern home.

Ultimately, advancements in technology clearly enable viewers to access a cinema-like experience within the comfort in their own home, as large screen televisions, soundbars and surround sound hardware help to truly immerse us all.

The recent survey not only underlines this assertion, but it also confirms that modern technology is impacting on our bodies and mind when we watch our favourite shows. So, whether we realise it or not, the way in which we consume TV in 2018 is clearly enhancing our enjoyment and creating increasingly emotive viewing experiences.

Screen Rant / Via screenrant.com

Barb was a popular character, but how did her disappearance and death impact on viewers?