Figure - uploaded by Shuo Niu
Content may be subject to copyright.
Example words associated with intimacy, relaxation, and sleep identified by PMI. The word list is used to count the percentages of words associated with each feeling.
Source publication
ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) has grown to immense popularity on YouTube and drawn HCI designers' attention to its effects and applications in design. YouTube ASMR creators incorporate visual elements, sounds, motifs of touching and tasting, and other scenarios in multisensory video interactions to deliver enjoyable and relaxing exper...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... choose the top 3% of the qualified terms with the highest PMIs as the word lists for each keyword. Table 4 lists example words associated with each keyword. Then we apply a similar approach as in LIWC to count the percentages of words from each list in each video's comments. ...Similar publications
It is common knowledge that when an elastomer (rubber) is stretched, its length will maintain if its two ends are fixed. Here, we serendipitously find that an elastomer slowly elongated further to achieve buckling under such conditions, whose final length is much longer than the pre‐stretched length. This allows to design untethered autonomous synt...
Citations
... With these developments, the structure of vlogs and ASMR videos have expanded from instructional to more personal, intimate viewing. ASMR videos have also started to gain popularity through online videos designed over time (Niu, 2022). ...
... In another study, Niu (2022) examines the parasocial attractions and interaction types of 2663 ASMR videos on YouTube in order to identify the different experiences and reactions of the consumers. They have discovered that watching ASMR videos evokes feelings of social interaction, soothed physical closeness, and sensory-rich activity observation. ...
ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos are currently trending on social media,
and they're said to have an outstanding impact on people's moods. ASMR, also referred to as
brain massaging, is a psychological phenomenon characterized by tingling sensations, relaxation,
and mood shifts. This feeling can be triggered by certain stimuli, such as whispered speech and
visual and auditory triggers. Some studies show that individuals with high levels of stress and
loneliness experience a more relaxing effect from ASMR videos. In this regard, it was aimed at
examining the relationship between the loneliness levels and ASMR experiences of young people
between the ages of 18 and 25. For this purpose, the "UCLA Loneliness Scale—Short Form"
was given to 51 participants, then the ASMR video was watched and the “ASMR Experiences
Evaluation Form” prepared by the researchers was applied to evaluate their ASMR experiences.
The results found no significant relationship between young people's loneliness levels and
ASMR experiences. ASMR experiences did not differ significantly according to loneliness level.
Contrary to the positive statements expressed about ASMR videos, 49% of the participants in
this study stated that they never wanted to watch ASMR videos again, and 43.1% stated that they
did not feel a sense of relief. It is hoped that the study will serve as a resource for future research
... These findings may be encouraging for those investigating the role of visual characteristics in the actual elicitation and experience of ASMR effects. Other types of ASMR tactics include multimodal social connection and relaxing physical intimacy (Niu et al., 2022), which emphasize the social and parasocial aspects of these videos. POV may function differently in these types of contexts as the nonverbal communication cues in the videos would be more obscured in first-person views. ...
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is an involuntary tingling sensation that is pleasant and relaxing. Given its rapid growth in popularity and increasing appearance in food advertising and marketing schemes, this study investigated whether certain features of food-related ASMR videos are more positively experienced than others. Participants (N = 183) took part in an experiment in which they viewed ASMR videos that varied in camera point-of-view (first-person vs. third-person) and food energy density (higher vs. lower). Results indicated that first-person videos of higher energy density foods generated the most positive emotions and evaluations as well as the most identification. Theoretical contributions and implications are discussed. Research replication and extension are suggested.
... Besides the limitations already noted, the study faces challenges in generalization, primarily due to the limited range of stimuli examined. Future research focusing on other ASMR aspects, rather than tingling experience, will require careful methodological choices, including pre-selection of ASMR responders [11,31] and the inclusion of whisper videos [32,33]. It it noteworthy that the Japanese term 'zoku-zoku' was used to describe the tingling sensation in the present study (and frisson in the previous study [14]), raising potential issues with cross-cultural and linguistic generalizability of our findings. ...
Sound serves as a potent medium for emotional well-being, with phenomena like the autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) showing a unique capacity for inducing relaxation and alleviating stress. This study aimed to understand how tingling sensations (and, for comparison, pleasant feelings) that such videos induce relate to acoustic features, using a broader range of ASMR videos as stimuli. The sound texture statistics and their timing predictive of tingling and pleasantness were identified through L1-regularized linear regression. Tingling was well-predicted (r = 0.52), predominantly by the envelope of frequencies near 5 kHz in the 1500 to 750 ms period before the response: stronger tingling was associated with a lower amplitude around the 5 kHz frequency range. This finding was further validated using an independent set of ASMR sounds. The prediction of pleasantness was more challenging (r = 0.26), requiring a longer effective time window, threefold that for tingling. These results enhance our understanding of how specific acoustic elements can induce tingling sensations, and how these elements differ from those that induce pleasant feelings. Our findings have potential applications in optimizing ASMR stimuli to improve quality of life and alleviate stress and anxiety, thus expanding the scope of ASMR stimulus production beyond traditional methods.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Sensing and feeling: an integrative approach to sensory processing and emotional experience’.
... ASMR and trait empathy may have a positive correlation [McErlean and Banissy 2017]. So ASMRtists( ASMR artists) help their viewers effectively induce ASMR tingling by utilizing various triggers, creating a sense of intimacy, designing environments, role-playing, etc. [Niu et al. 2022] to convey a sense of intimacy. ...
... This system aims to bridge the gap of intimacy between the ASMRtist and viewers by employing a comprehensive audio-visual-tactile feedback system. ASMRtist can empathetically engage with the viewer through personalized attention, roleplaying, and simulated social interactions [Niu et al. 2022]. ...
... Visually, close shots ( Fig. 1b) and extreme close shots capture intricate details (Fig. 1a), increasing the perception of proximity (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013). Auditory elements like whispered speech and unique speech techniques establish an acoustic intimacy (Niu et al., 2022), while nonverbal cues such as eye contact and open body language ( Fig. 1b; 1c) foster a feeling of connection. These techniques, combined with the portrayal of intimate scenarios, contribute to emotional bonding between content creators and viewers. ...
A wide variety of sociocultural trends continuously flanks the globally expanding digitization. The ongoing enthusiasm for so-called ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos that are described as having the potential to trigger very strong thrills and chills, often termed “head orgasms”, needs rigorous scientific testing which has not yet unfolded on a large scale. Moreover, the sheer huge amount of videos with an extreme variety of different types of ASMR videos calls for a transparent classification system as ASMR as such was never properly defined by science but is a term that emerged from the producing community itself. We initiated such a classification system by selecting the 100 most viewed ASMR videos and classified them by employing an extensive list of items which was dynamically expanded while inspecting all the material. The number of views ranged from 4.6 mill. to 419 mill. (M=28.3 mill.) illustrating the immense impact these videos have. The duration of videos (short videos < 4 min. were excluded as they are not in accord with the community’s goal to calm people) differed clearly but the mean of 34:47 minutes indicates decoupling from recent media trends towards ultra-short videos. Contentwise, we detected a strong focus on food topics (48%). In 21% of these videos, a distinctive camera angle is used, showing the protagonist from the mouth down to the shoulders, which inhibits a natural holistic face processing, as the face must be largely imagined. The selective processing of the mouth area potentially increases the degree of perceived artificiality. The videos showed a remarkable bias towards a strong aestheticized frame with artificially arranged environments (86%) and highly made-up protagonists (76%). Our data analysis is ongoing, including the the specific usage of camera and microphone, and other perceptually relevant properties known to impact the aesthetic appreciation from movie research.
... On the other hand, there is evidence that ASMR may be best conceptualised as a multidimensional phenomenon (Poerio et al., 2018;Roberts et al., 2019). For instance, ASMR appears to involve simultaneous cognitive, emotional, and physiological experiences in response to triggers (Niu et al., 2022;Poerio et al., 2018). Furthermore, increased skin conductance levels, lowered heart rate, feelings of excitement, and relaxation have all been concurrently demonstrated during ASMR (Idayati et al., 2021;Poerio et al., 2018). ...
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is an alternative state of consciousness char-acterised by changes in affect, feelings of relaxation, and tingling sensations on the body. Online videos designed to stimulate ASMR in viewers have become increasingly popular. Although there is evidence that ASMR may improve sleep, emotion regulation, and relaxation, the current understanding of ASMR propensity remains limited. This study examined whether a mentally flexible cognitive style may underlie the ability to experience ASMR. Undergraduate students (N = 376) completed an online survey involving a series of self-report questionnaires and two performance-based creative ability tasks. Findings did not provide support for an overall mentally flexible mindset, however, transliminality, emotional contagion susceptibility, positive schizo-typal traits, and roleplaying ability all significantly positively predicted ASMR propensity. These findings suggest that ASMR propensity represents several possible underlying cognitive styles relating to enhanced imagination and perceptual ability, and cannot be simply characterised by mental flexibility.
... On the other hand, there is evidence that ASMR may be best conceptualised as a multidimensional phenomenon (Poerio et al., 2018;Roberts et al., 2019). For instance, ASMR appears to involve simultaneous cognitive, emotional, and physiological experiences in response to triggers (Niu et al., 2022;Poerio et al., 2018). Furthermore, increased skin conductance levels, lowered heart rate, feelings of excitement, and relaxation have all been concurrently demonstrated during ASMR (Idayati et al., 2021;Poerio et al., 2018). ...
... For example, experience sharing from exploring autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) to animating awe for embodiment and externalizing cues for communication [1,27,32,33]. Niu et al. discussed design implications for social interactions based on embodied communication principles [34]. Our work is inspired by these research directions, focusing on aesthetics-induced frisson and exploring potential interpersonal interaction approaches using physiological sensing and interoceptive interactions. ...
Frisson is the feeling and experience of physical reactions such as shivers, tingling skin, and goosebumps. Using entrainment through facilitating interpersonal transmissions of embodied sensations, we present "Frisson Waves" with the aim to enhance live music performance experiences. "Frisson Waves" is an exploratory real-time system to detect, trigger and share frisson in a wave-like pattern over audience members during music performances. The system consists of a physiological sensing wristband for detecting frisson and a thermo-haptic neckband for inducing frisson. In a controlled environment, we evaluate detection (n=19) and triggering of frisson (n=15). Based on our findings, we conducted an in-the-wild music concert with 48 audience members using our system to share frisson. This paper summarizes a framework for accessing, triggering and sharing frisson. We report our research insights, lessons learned, and limitations of "Frisson Waves".
For the past 10 years, a new genre of media content called ASMR has been growing rapidly in popularity. ASMR is described as a pleasurable tingling sensation usually triggered by different audiovisual signals, performed by so-called ASMRtists. These triggers have been shown to lead to increased parasocial identification with ASMRtists as well as a stronger commitment to their marketing messages. Yet so far, the effectiveness of ASMR marketing has not been directly compared to the effectiveness of typical influencer marketing. Using two consecutive 2 Â 2 experiments among 408 consumers, this study compares the effect of a sponsorship message of two ASMRtists with two YouTube influencers. The results show that ASMR can be induced even by short, sponsored messages and that it positively influences the perception of both the advertised brand and the ASMRtist presenting it. Hence, ASMRtists are suitable brand ambassadors for marketers looking to reach an underserved online community.
