Human Brainwaves Synchronization : An Hypothesis of Sympateia

Starting from the considerations that new generations communicate and manage social relationships in a different way, thanks to the use of new media, especially Internet, we wanted to study the effects of this communication mode on a neuro-cognitive level. Many studies, especially in sociological and psychological research fields, state that traditional communication among young people is decreasing and that the excessive use of social networking and mobile devices represents a limitation to the development of communication abilities. In this chapter, we present our concept of “sympateia” and show the results of our early-stage experiments addressing our research. Progresses in Neuroscience and current Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) devices enable NeuroInformatics to deeper experiment new Human-machine communication methods and technology. Our aim is to address research efforts in finding new technologies and new IT paradigms to explore the possibility of a direct Human-Human communication mediated by technology. The chapter consists of six sections: in section one, a theoretical background of the cognitive approach to communication and empathy will be defined. In section two, it will be traced the state-of-the-art in Information Technology and Neuroscience studies in human-computer interaction. In section three IT paradigms will be presented to individuate the well-suited ones, with particular attention to AI and learning machine methods. Section four will trace the scenario and the direction of the research, while section five will present some preliminary experiments performed. Finally, in section six will discuss some final considerations and future works.