In 2019 I founded Psych-IT with a group of techies with a psychology background. Nowadays it’s an open community of nearly 300 people on meetup in which we examine the connection between psychology and emerging technologies. Think of topics such as human-robot interaction, digital ethics, the social impact of it, positive technology, being tricked by deepfakes, and the impact of technological nature on our happiness. We organize free and non-profit events for students and professionals in the IT and psychology domain (private and public). Our aim is to be a national platform to discuss these important topics in a playful and educated way.
Join the group: Psych-IT Group @ Meetup
Previous events:
Psych-IT #8: The Empathic Metaverse
With Enliven and Menno van Doorn
Yes, finally a Psych-IT meeting in real life again!
Menno van Doorn told, among other things:
– He is tired of the word #Metaverse; tip for organizations to remain pragmatic and use their own definition.
– VR can go beyond empathy: by virtually stepping into a friend’s body, you’ll unconsciously change your self image towards that of your friend.
– Sneak preview: ‘Corporate Metaverse’ will be VINT’s next research topic
Alex Tavassoli and Esmeralda Massaut from Enliven told about:
– interventions in VR such as ‘Domestic violence’ and ‘Knife pulling’ for the police.
– Enterprise experiences such as ‘LGBTQ for the workplace’ and ‘Bullying in the workplace’ – How they work with sounding boards to let their VR experience trigger the right emotions in the target group.
We were able to experience the experiences ourselves because Enliven had brought several VR sets. For example, a divorce therapist experienced the “Virtual Divorce” experience and a colleague experienced “Bullying in the workplace”. We had a great evening, under the guidance of Dingding Martin as evening host and made possible by Sogeti, Chablis Platenburg, Luka ten Kate, Ruud Rooimans and all the guests of course!
Psych-IT #7: Game On! The psychology of play, gaming, and esports
With Adam Lobel, René Glas & Joessi ‘Juicy’ Moorman
Psych-IT #6: Beyond Death? Deepfake therapy and Longevity
With Leoniek van der Maarel & Didier Coeurnelle
Psych-IT #5: Technological innovation in youth services
With Xiomara Vado Soto & Evelyn Visschedijk
Psych-IT #4: Designing Media for Human Nature
With Menno van Doorn & Mariana Pinheiro
Psych-IT #3: Techno-Love – From love-algorithms to mediated touch
Tinder has radically changed our dating game and through vibrating cuddly bracelets, teledildonica and connected night lamps, couples keep in touch in LAT relationships. New questions arise: can technology replace human contact? Is virtual love also cheating? And what is the impact of genderless sex robots? On October 15th, trend scientist Jeanneke Scholtens and PhD student Sima Ipakchian Askari will answer these questions at the third Psych-IT meetup!
Psych-IT #2: Stress-IT – Technology at work; a blessing or curse?
Stress helps us to deliver top cognitive and physical performances. However, too much stress leads to distraction, illness, and poor results. In addition to colleagues, workspace and workload, technology also has an impact on managing or increasing your stress level. At this second Psych-IT Meetup, Janienke Sturm, Professor People and Technology at Fontys University of Applied Sciences, and Techno Stress researchers Liza van Dam and Joep van den Eerenbeem from TNO shared their insights.
We concluded the evening with some Fishbowl discussions.
Psych-IT #1: Sleep-Technology
Sleeping is important. To refuel and process your impressions of the day. The panacea makes you more productive, creative and you can solve problems better. Too little sleep leads to more often reporting sick and causes more industrial accidents. The logical question in 2019 is: can technology help you sleep more efficiently or better?
Philips sleep scientist Tim Leufkens PhD and DIY Biohacker Peter Joosten shared their insights and research during this Meetup with a group of 90 psychology and IT professionals and students.
