Hi and welcome to my personal StudioLab site!

 

Here you will find up-to-date information about my past, current and future research as well as some general interests.

In 2009 I started the research master Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Amsterdam. My first internship was at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. It focused on fear suppression using Deep Brain Stimulation in rats to investigate an animal model for treating obsessive compulsive disorders. I soon realized that my interests were more in working with humans (and their brains). This resulted in a second internship at the University of Amsterdam on learning during (un)conscious processing of visual stimuli using EEG as a neural measure. During both years I have also worked as a (f)MRI scan-assistant at the AMC and Spinoza Center (http://www.spinozacenter.nl/). In 2011 my thesis titled “Bridging the gaps between evolutionary and neuroscientific models of aesthetics” led to my graduation (cum laude).

 

My general interests in perceptual qualities of products and how our brain processes information are now combined in my PhD research. In the Design Aesthetics group of Professor Hekkert at the Industrial Design faculty of the TU Delft we are developing a model of product aesthetics in collaboration with several other international research departments.

 

My focus is on the perception of product aesthetics through the principle of ‘Unity in Variety’ and how our brain has evolved to generate these experiences.  We will design a range of products that independently vary on unity and variety in multiple perceptual domains to investigate the effects of these modulations on the aesthetic experience. This approach might be extended to more interactive products such as car interiors as well. By combining design, cognition and neuroscience research, I am trying to expand and strengthen the scientific knowledge on the perception of product aesthetics to make the principles of aesthetics more applicable to the design process.

The StudioLab is an outstanding environment to integrate perspectives of designers and researchers with differing backgrounds. This close collaboration and exchange in information allows for our experiments to be scientifically sound and at the same time  as close to professional real-life application as possible.