[ASMR Community]

Meet Sue Dorrens, the founder of the ‘I Love ASMR’ Facebook page and the author of an upcoming book about ASMR

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversitySue Dorrens is currently living in Edinburgh, UK and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education from Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, UK.

She worked as a Physical Education teacher for 14 years but now spends her time on other endeavors including several past, present, and future ASMR resources.

At present, she is very active with posting about the latest ASMR news, events, and related stories on her I Love ASMR Facebook page.  She has also created an ASMR video website and is currently working on an upcoming book about ASMR.

In my interview with Sue she shares how ASMR has helped her, her creation of what might be the first ASMR video website, her observations about changing trends in ASMR, the focus of her upcoming ASMR book, and more.

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What would you want in a real world ASMR spa?

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityI have previously written an article about an in-person ASMR spa in Canada.

Well, the lucky citizens of Ireland may also be getting a new ASMR spa for their real world tingles and relaxation.

Amanda Rose Doherty is a product manager at a pharmaceutical company in Dublin, Ireland and received her Business Studies Degree in Marketing at Dublin City University.

Amanda is also interested in opening up an ASMR spa in Dublin.

Her keen marketing education and wisdom is guiding her to make informed decisions about her spa vision.  To help her do this, she has created a survey to gather input from those within the ASMR community.

In my interview with Amanda she shares her inspiration for an ASMR spa, her goals for the survey about the spa, her perceived challenges of bringing her idea to reality, her wonderful vision of an ASMR-enriched future and more.

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‘The ASMR Podcast’ showcases a diversity of ASMR artists

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityGerry Parks is a Project Manager at a software development company in Glasgow, Scotland.  He has his BA degree in Business and his MSc degree in Information Technology.

Gerry also has a new podcast called, ‘The ASMR Podcast.’

Although he created this podcast, you won’t hear his voice on it…at least not yet.  Gerry initially created the podcast as an audio-only platform to help launch new ASMR artists and to help established artists reach new audiences.

In my interview with Gerry he shares the ASMR artists featured so far, his inspiration for creating the podcast, tips for starting a podcast, and more.

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Voices of ASMR: Project launch (podcast episode #4)

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian ResponseI have launched a new project called, ‘Voices of ASMR’.

It will be a diverse collection of ASMR experiences submitted by visitors to my website and by listeners to my podcast.

The project is a way for individuals to share their ASMR experiences with the world, and it is a way for the world to explore the ASMR experiences of others.

I believe that having an organized repository of the ASMR experiences and testimonials from many individuals will be helpful to those whom are:

  • learning about ASMR for the first time
  • curious to know how others experience ASMR
  • writing articles or papers about ASMR
  • creating research projects about ASMR

I’m launching the project with 12 initial questions.  Individuals who experience ASMR can submit their specific answers to any or all of the questions.

Here are the 12 initial questions:

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Meet the married couple who created SleepPhones, those comfy headphones popular for falling asleep to ASMR trigger sounds.

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityA common question I have seen on the ASMR subreddit and at other places is, “What are the best headphones for ASMR?”

There is no unanimous decision, but there is one brand of headphones which I see the most often recommended, they are called ‘SleepPhones’.

I know my wife would agree because she borrowed my SleepPhones a month ago and has refused to give them back.

These headphones are a plush headband with flat speakers hidden inside – quite ideal for falling asleep while listening to ASMR trigger sounds or any other type of audio.

I have noticed that the company which creates these headphones, AcousticSheep LLC, seems quite aware of the ASMR community.

So I reached out to them to find out more about the people behind SleepPhones, the development of their products, and their thoughts about ASMR.

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Two longtime friends launch the ‘ASMR Newscast’

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityLee Terrill received her BA degree in Early Childhood Education, has taught 2nd grade and been a professional cake decorator, and now enjoys working an office job with a small, local business.

Logan Jenkins has his BA degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Graphic Design, has worked as a Graphic Designer and Flash Developer, and currently works as a Frontend Web Developer.

Both live in South Carolina, USA, are avid board game players, and decided to team up to co-host the podcast titled, ASMR Newscast.

The ASMR Newscast launched on September 7, 2015 and they have been releasing weekly episodes with content quite fitting to their podcast’s description;

“we will bring you news from around the ASMR community along with a few relaxing sounds to give you the best tingles.”

In my interview with Lee and Logan they share how they met, how ASMR is helpful to each of them, their motivation to create a podcast, details about their podcast, challenges they have encountered so far, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, their replies in italics, and links to their podcast and other resources.

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History of ASMR: Birth of the ASMR Community (podcast episode #2)

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityOctober 29, 2007 could be viewed as the birth date of the ASMR community.

On this day, an individual by the username of “okaywhatever” started a forum thread at the website http://www.steadyhealth.com.

The title of the thread was, “Weird sensation feels good” and attracted over 300 replies.  The content of these initial replies quickly created a clear and consistent description of ASMR which still accurately describes ASMR today.

Some of the participants in the thread, such as Jennifer Allen and Andrew MacMuiris, spawned out and developed resources which were monumental to the growth and understanding of ASMR.

Overall, this forum thread lead directly to the following ASMR milestones:

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Meet WhisperSparkles, one of the first ASMR artists on YouTube

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityAmanda McDonnell is a mother of four children and has a diploma in Medical Sciences from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland.

She is originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland and is currently living in Glasgow, Scotland.

Amanda is also known as the ASMR artist, WhisperSparkles.

The first whisper channel on YouTube appeared in 2009 (see the History of ASMR for more details).  Amanda created her channel soon after in 2010, making her one of the first dedicated whisperers on the internet.

In my interview with Amanda she shares why she created a whisper channel is 2010, how ASMR videos have changed over time, how her interest in ASMR helped her to meet her fiancé, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, her replies in italics, and a link to her YouTube channel so you can enjoy her early videos from 2010, as well as, her most recent videos.

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ASMR data from website polls (August 2015 update)

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityMy co-investigators and I are still collecting data for our on-going ASMR research survey.  That research survey has collected data from 13,000 individuals.  Information about that research survey is HERE.

This blog post is an update about the data collected by my website polls which are located on the “First Time Visitor” page.

My prior summary of the website poll data was when there were data from about 150 people.  You can read about that prior summary HERE.

This updated summary has website poll data from about 600 people.

This data is specific to the population of visitors to this website who take the website polls and may not be applicable to other populations.

Below is a short summary of the data, followed by the full data from the polls.

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Listen to a new audio documentary about ASMR on Radio Wolfgang

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityHarri Watson has been a television producer for 10 years and is now an Executive Producer for the Radio Wolfgang website which features “Great music. Great storytelling.”

The website has recently launched and includes live streaming music and several audio stories – including an audio documentary on ASMR produced by Harri.

She interviewed Heather Feather, Ilse Blansert (thewaterwhispers), Dmitri (massageASMR) and additional individuals whom create, experience and/or study ASMR.

In my interview with Harri she shared why she selected ASMR as a topic for the launch of Radio Wolfgang, what surprised her the most during production, the reception to her documentary, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, her replies in italics, and a link to her audio documentary about ASMR.

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