ECSU updates (June 2026)

Open-source hardware. Our paper on the Enactive Torch — the handheld sensory substitution device behind our active perception research — came out in HardwareX. Led by Stephen Estelle with Lohith Dayantri, Ziwen Meng, Brian Morrissey, and Tom, it puts the full open-source design on the table so other labs can build and modify the device for their own work.

Carbonation, take two. Keisuke Shiba ran the second pilot of the carbonation-intensity EEG study, refining the protocol from the first round in April. The study measures how different levels of carbonation affect brain activity during oral retention, with Brian on the cap and Milan advising on the analysis. (Photo: Keisuke and Julia in the Human Behavior Lab after a session.)

Welcome, Saisha. Saisha Rankaduwa arrived from Dalhousie University on a Killam International Research Award for a visit working on EEG hyperscanning. She's already getting into the datasets and finding her feet in the lab.

Rotation start. Julia Zasada began her OIST PhD rotation with us. She's diving into the perceptual crossing data from the phenomenological side, modeling how clear participants feel their awareness of the other person actually is, at the level of the pair rather than the individual.

ECogS 2026. Acceptance decisions for contributed talks and posters went out, and the program for November 9–13 at OIST is taking shape.

More next month.