Mindfultech Lab

Founded by Prof Craig Warren Smith at Chulalongkorn University, our project tracks science-based mindfulness and its links to Thailand.

MindfulTech, linked to www.mindfultechnologies.org, aims to formulate theories, frameworks, methodologies, research and prototypes for digital technologies that further mindfulness practices It builds bridges between "scientific mindfulness" in the West and traditional mindfulness practices in religion and secular spiritual traditions. We track new research on applications of mindfulness in education, health, and other fields. We build academic partnerships within and between Asian and Western universities and businesses on this theme.

12/07/2023

More on Meaningful AI..
Hi friends. Here is further commentary about the madness surrounding ai governance (or the lack of it) and what must be done before it's too late

Last week there was a lot of hype around a hideous concept called AI for Good.it was the second phase of summit from International Telecommunicstions Union (itu) which is tied to corporate sponsorship of Big AI eg Microsoft. It featured a warm and fuzzy press conference in which ais (robots) assured the media that the public has nothing to fest from unregulated ai. All such meetings claim to call for regulation while preventing it. The real message is that the ITU itself -- the tech arm of the un -- has no teeth and only serves to create voluntary agreements that assure the public that world leaders are acting when they are just chatting. ITU did this 15 years ago when they claimed to close digital divide. Meanwhile the divide got worse and wealth flow to the digitalized 1% who control and monetize the data on which AIs depend. This is why the ITUs approach will only obfuscate the urgent need for AI regulation and concentrate world wealth even further in the top tier. This is the problem that Meaningful AI is designed to solve. More on that in my next post. Meanwhile, stay free of the Armageddon, por favor, or it's hasta la vista baby

16/02/2017

We are excited to announce a big change at Mindful Tech: Beginning next month we will be centered at University of Washington. It is the worldwide epicenter of research in biometrics and virtual reality while it is also a major center of mindfulness research and practice. Meanwhile, Chulalongkorn University and other international partners will function as satellites for our Seattle-based activity, which will be called MINDFULTECH LAB. Stay tuned to learn our initial projects.

28/01/2017

Mindful Tech is the title of a book written by David Levy who is a prof at the Univ of Wa Information School. David was part of the innovative Xerox PARC lab at Stanford which is the origin of humanistric approaches to digital technology. His new book presents exercizes in how to overcome one's own internet addiction and how to live balanced lifestyles while still engaging with the newest technology. https://books.google.com/books/yup?vid=ISBN9780300208313

Through a series of lucid and engaging exercises, readers are invited to discover healthier and more effective digital practices From email to smart phones, and from social media to Google searches, digital technologies have transformed the way we learn, entertain ourselves, socialize, and work. Des...

28/01/2017

Sometimes Wikipedia gets it right. Here is the wiki explanation of the immersive experience of VR.storeytelling. "the greater the suspension of disbelief the greater the experiential immersion or "presence" in the end-user." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersion_(virtual_reality)

Immersion into virtual reality is a perception of being physically present in a non-physical world. The perception is created by surrounding the user of the VR system in images, sound or other stimuli that provide an engrossing total environment.

28/01/2017

Here's a New Video Game that Transmit's the Wisdom of the Injuit native culture: http://video.newyorker.com/watch/the-new-yorker-presents-never-alone

Could a video game help to preserve Inuit culture?

26/01/2017

As games and film converge, designers will achieve "interactive immersive experience" that bring active mindfulness to end-users. Note this:

Legendary game designer Hideo Kojima says games, novels and films will "merge into one type of entertainment".

26/01/2017

Predicting Relapses: The new science of predicting drug relapses has implications for technology designers who can devise tools to alert users, caregivers or anti-drug government officials. http://paidpost.nytimes.com/university-of-minnesota/todays-research-tomorrows-solutions.html?tbs_nyt=2017-jan-nytnative_hpstory-UMN&module=PaidPostDriver®ion=PaidPostMOTH&pgType=Homepage&action=click

Meet the researchers changing their fields forever.

26/01/2017

Meditation as Virtual Reality: My friend Neville Spireri, the top guy at the VR start up, weVR, enlisted Deepok Chopra to do an VR short film which aims to transmit the meditation experience via VR. Since every day reality for most persons is a simulation, why not?, he says. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/17/virtual-reality-meditation-deepak-chopra-wevr-app

24/01/2017

More good news about the anti-stress effect of mindfulness:

Mindfulness meditation, the practice of paying more attention to the present moment, helps lower stress hormones and decreases inflammation in the body, scientists have proven for the first time.

20/01/2017

Dear Colleagues,
You may have noticed that the page, Mindful Thailand has been renamed. It is now called Mindful Tech and it has moved with me from Bangkok to Seattle, where I am now affiliated with University of Washington, which is closer to companies like Microsoft and Amazon which are now among the smaller companies which are formulating mindful technologies As for Thailand, we are still working with Chulalongkorn to develop technoclogies for education and health care reform. So Thailand remains our major focus in Asia. Please keep involved with us and interact as much as possible. Best regards in the new year, Craig