ASMR

What would you want in a real world ASMR spa?

/ Dr. Richard / 5 Comments

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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Meet WhispersRed and explore her stunning new website

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityEmma Smith is a resident of London, England, but perhaps she is better known as the ASMR artist, WhispersRed.

Emma posted her first ASMR video on YouTube in July, 2013.  It was 1 minute and 23 seconds long, and filmed on her iPad.

Now, about 2.5 years later, Emma has posted over 190 productions of increasing video and audio quality and has reached over 126,000 followers.

Whenever I see someone listing out their favorite ASMR artists online, her name is usually at the top of their lists.  Emma is also often featured, quoted, or mentioned in articles, radio programs, and TV news stories and programs about ASMR.

In my interview with Emma she shares what drives her dedication to the ASMR community, how she has changed over the past 10 years, her tips for new ASMR artists, her challenges with creating her new website, her curiosities about the potential involvement of the vagus nerve in ASMR, and more.

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Meet Claire Tolan and her intriguing array of ASMR-inspired artistic projects

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityClaire Tolan is an artist residing in Berlin, Germany who is weaving ASMR into new and exciting artistic domains.

She has created and hosts a regular ASMR radio show, has incorporated ASMR into a surveillance-themed exhibition, has integrated ASMR into a Techno night club, is merging ASMR and karaoke to explore facets of audience participation, is putting the finishing touches on an ASMR ring tone project, and also has some ASMR-themed games in her crucible.

And if all that is not enough, Claire has even collaborated with the American musician Holly Herndon to produce, what Wired magazine calls, “the album’s most curious track.”

If art is a manifestation of the essence and being of an artist, then my interview with Claire showed me that her projects are only a glimmer of the profound and intriguing person behind those productions.

In my interview with Claire she shares her interest in the therapeutic potential of ASMR, how ASMR can be said to “leak with love”, her incorporation of data into her work, her beliefs and involvements with political activism, her reasons for defending ASMR, her favorite YouTube ASMR artists, and more.

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History of ASMR: About WhisperingLife, the first ASMR artist (podcast episode #5)

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityOn March 26, 2009, a young woman started posting videos of herself whispering on YouTube.

She shared some information about herself on YouTube, but she never revealed her exact identity.

Most people refer to her by the name of her YouTube channel, WhisperingLife – and credit her with starting the first whisper channel on YouTube.

Today’s podcast will focus on WhisperingLife and address the following questions:

  • How old was she and where was she from?
  • What inspired her to start posting whisper videos?
  • Did she intend to relax listeners with her whispering or was that just an unexpected outcome?
  • What did she whisper about?
  • Was she just a ‘whisper artist’ or was she an ‘ASMR artist’?
  • Did she ever show her face in her videos?
  • What did she use for a camera?
  • How many videos did she post?
  • Why did she stop posting videos?

The podcast will also include comments she received in the first year she started her channel in 2009, and include comments posted on her last video she uploaded in 2014.

Subscribe to the ASMR University Podcast to hear all of the past and future episodes or listen to this one episode right here:

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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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Go to Tingle Town to record your ASMR sensations

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityMatthew White is a freelance web developer residing in the United Kingdom.  He has received his BSc degree in Web Systems & Technology and his MSc degree in Smart Systems & Technology from the University of Bournemouth, UK.

Matthew has also created his own town, called Tingle Town.

Well, actually Tingle Town is an interactive website which allows visitors to watch ASMR videos and record the precise moments when their ASMR is triggered.

It is dead simple to use; viewers just press and hold an on-screen button whenever they feel tingles.  The data is shown as a line graph directly under each video and the data set for each video can also be downloaded.

Matthew’s idea and execution are brilliant – and the data being collected is going to be very helpful to understanding the specific relationship between triggers and tingles.

In my interview with Matthew he shares his inspiration to create Tingle Town, his challenges with the creation of Tingle Town, the potential value of Tingle Town for scientists and seekers of tingles alike, and more.

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Creative researcher merges ASMR with Opera

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityLee Scott fulfills three roles at Bath Spa University in the UK as an educator, digital technologist and graduate student.

He is a creative researcher in digital media, the subject leader of Creative Computing, and a Ph.D. candidate in interactive experiences for web and mobile devices in the School of Humanities and Cultural Industries.

Lee also has a deep interest in opera.  And this is not your grandmother’s opera – this is “new opera”.

New opera is technically-mastered, digitally-optimized, emotionally-charged, story-driven, and carefully coded for internet delivery, smart device consumption, and headphone immersion.

New opera may remind you of another type of sensorial and emotional experience, and Lee would agree.

Lee’s other deep interest is ASMR, and so he collaborated with the ASMR artist adreambeam to produce the digital-based web opera, “The Village.”

Another advantage of delivering and experiencing opera through electronic media is that Lee was able to research and analyze viewer behaviors associated with the ASMR aspects of his digital opera.

In my interview with Lee he shares how the collaboration with the ASMR artist adreambeam developed, the relationship between ASMR and opera, his insights on frisson vs ASMR, his development of an ASMR and opera-themed game, research data from his web opera, 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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Undergraduate student researching ASMR, flow states, and highly sensitive person traits

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityAnna Zajac is an undergraduate student at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland.  She is in her final year as a Psychology Major and is working as a research assistant at her university.

In addition, she is an intern at Sensum Co., a marketing research company which specializes in neuromarketing.

Anna has teamed up with Dr. Jonathan Rolison to do her senior dissertation thesis on ASMR.  She has decided to apply her research skills and computer software experience to investigate the relationship of ASMR with flow states and highly sensitive person traits.

In my interview with Anna she shares her inspiration for doing a research project on ASMR, the objectives of her project, advice to others considering doing research on ASMR, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, her replies in italics, and links to learn more about her and her thesis supervisor. Continue reading →