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(final copy)



- edited order...more visuals needed

-Stressilator -introduce team members -introduce game; rules; give 30 seconds -Pam collects game at end of 30 seconds while Trina starts talking about goals and purpose - “Imagine you were doing that game...” - This is the goal with the Stressilator - Visitor will discover how stress affects their cognitive abilities
 * Introduction (Corina)**
 * UNBLOCK ME (Dhairya)**
 * Goal/Purpose of the exhibit (Trina)**
 * What is stress?:**
 * //People have very different ideas with respect to their definition of stress. Probably the most common is, "physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension". Another popular definition of stress is, "a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize."//**

Fundamentals (Charles) Safety (Pam) Google sketchup (Vincent) Science Smart phone integration (Trina) How it fits into human limits/Real life applications (Pam) Why we chose it? (Pam and Corina)
 * //[]//**
 * - experience from the visitors prospective from beginning to end (including exterior) (Charles)**
 * -specific puzzles; each person does 1**
 * -billboards with corresponding number of puzzle**
 * -safety and accessibility (cushioned walls,straps, safety warnings)**
 * -mention scientific articles about how stress is induced (music, shaking, etc) (Dhairya)**
 * -Epinephrine (Dhairya) and Cortisol – corina**
 * --video, time, stats**
 * - extreme athletes; school, daily life**
 * -how can stress be used to advantage or disadvantage**
 * -easier to analyze than physical**
 * -interesting concept because affects everyone (differently)**




 * I couldn't find Vincent's part so I left room for it on the slide.**

media type="file" key="Final Innovation Commercial.wmv" width="300" height="300"
 * OUR TRAILER/COMMERCIAL:**


 * Someone please edit these clips and put them together.**

media type="file" key="IMG_2868.MOV" width="300" height="300"media type="file" key="IMG_2867.MOV" width="300" height="300" media type="file" key="IMG_2866.MOV" width="300" height="300"media type="file" key="IMG_2864.MOV" width="300" height="300" media type="file" key="IMG_2859.MOV" width="300" height="300"


 * FINAL PPT: [[file:Stressilator.pptx]]**


 * Updated ppt : [[file:Stressilator.pptx]]**


 * __ Presentation Outline __**
 * Introduction (Dhairya) **
 * Goal/Purpose of the exhibit (Trina) **
 * Fundamentals- experience (Charles) **
 * - science (Corina and Dhairya) **
 * - walk through (Google Sketch up) - Vincent **
 * -exterior, safety (cushioned walls,straps, safety warnings) - Pam **
 * Take away - billboards - Charles **
 * -Real life applications Pam **
 * -Smart phone integration (dhairya and Trina) **
 * How it fits into human limits (Corina) **
 * Why we chose it? easier to analyze than physical. affects of everyday life. interesting to analyze (Pam) **


 * PRESENTATION[[file:Stressilator.pptx]] **
 * EDIT ME :) **

Here is the final report: I simplified some things just slightly to make the report flow better and to stay on topic. I apologize if you felt it more relevant and we still have a day to edit my version together before we have to hand it in. :) JUST A QUESTION: CAN IT BE MORE THAN A PAGE?! BECAUSE IT'S AlMOST 2 - Trina To: Trina, when you polish it up and put it together- if the report goes over two pages, take the reference out. (Dhairya)
 * First few paragraphs of the original report as reference: **


 * Imagine that you are in the Ontario Science Centre. You are on the fifth floor in the new Human Limits Exhibition. You walk into a room with four family members. You take in the surroundings of the room: a window with a look out onto a scenic view, a maroon couch, gleaming hardwood floors, and a variety of puzzles distributed around the perimeter of the room. **


 * You are about to take your first few steps into the room, when the lights flicker off. A deep, mysterious voice is heard and instructs you to go to a station and finish the puzzle as quickly as possible. Mid-way through the instruction being given, the room gradually starts to shake. The lights suddenly turn back on and you are flustered. “Your challenge has begun.” **


 * Edit 1**
 * Imagine that you are in the Ontario Science Centre. You are on the fifth floor in the new Human Limits Exhibition. You walk into a room with four family members. You take in the surroundings of the room: a window with a look out onto a scenic view, a maroon couch, gleaming hardwood floors, and a variety of puzzles distributed around the perimeter of the room. **


 * You are about to take your first few steps into the room, when the lights flicker off. A deep, mysterious voice is heard and instructs you to go to a station and finish the puzzle as quickly as possible. Mid-way through the instruction being given, the room gradually starts to shake. The lights suddenly turn back on and you are flustered. “Your challenge has begun.” **


 * The goal of this exhibit is to examine how discomfort and slight panic affects the cognitive abilities of visitors. In order to induce panic, set up in the ceiling of the room will be various objects that will droapproximately 8 metres from the floor and automatically reset using a pulley system. A projection of windows will display a simulation of buildings collapsing outside. Similarly, a projection onto the floorwill simulate the floor cracking and crumbling. Visitors will also be able to feel the ground move beneath their feet [insert explanation short of floor mechanisms if needed]. **


 * During all of these events, it is the visitors goal to complete the puzzles as fast as they can.**


 * Edit 2**


 * Imagine that you are enjoying a calm afternoon at the Ontario Science Centre. You are on the fifth floor in the new Human Limits Exhibition. Surrounding you are exhibits that test and inform you on the potential and limits of your cognitive and physical abilities. You decide to wait in a short line outside of a closed room, approximately 10 feet by 10 feet, which has a sign indicating a wait time of approximately 2 minutes per 4 visitors. After a couple of minutes the entrance door swings open automatically and you enter with your mom, dad, brother, and sister. You take in the surroundings of the room: a window looking out onto a scenic view, a maroon couch, gleaming hardwood floors, a heavy looking metal door—probably the exit—and a variety of puzzles distributed around the perimeter of the room. **
 * Intrigued, you are about to head towards the puzzle directly across from you, when the lights abruptly switch off and the heavy metal door dramatically closes behind you. A deep and mysterious voice instructs you to go to a station and finish the puzzle as quickly as possible in order to exit the room. Mid-way through the instruction being given, the room gradually begins to shake. The lights suddenly turn back on and you are flustered. “Your challenge has begun.” The goal of this exhibit is to examine how discomfort and slight panic affects the cognitive abilities of the visitors. In order to induce panic a series of special effects will be installed in the room. Various objects will drop from the ceiling, approximately 8 metres above the floor, and automatically reset using a pulley system. Windows containing an LCD screen will display a simulation of buildings collapsing outside. Similarly, a projection onto the floor will simulate the floor cracking and crumbling beneath the visitors. They will also be able to feel the ground shake. [insert explanation short of floor mechanisms if needed].During all of these events, it is the visitor’s goal to complete the relatively simple puzzle as fast as they can. These puzzles will test different cognitive abilities which are affected under certain levels of stress. [insert explanation of exactly which puzzle and areas of the brain it tests.] Timed by an automatic timer, the visitor will exit through the door which automatically opens when all of the visitors have completed their respective puzzles. **
 * Before the end of the exhibit there will be various displays and bulletins explaining their experience. They will be able to view a comparison of their time to the average time of an individual their age under stress and without any stress. These statistics will be collected within the science centre prior to the opening of our exhibit. There will be a bulletin explaining exactly what was occurring in their brains when the slight panic and stress was induced by the special effects. **
 * As an effort to include all visitors, on the opposite side of the entrance there will be a two way mirror for visitors to observe what the panicked visitors are going through while inside the room. **


 * Edit 3:**


 * Imagine that you are enjoying a calm afternoon at the Ontario Science Centre. You are on the fifth floor in the new Human Limits Exhibition. Surrounding you are exhibits that test and inform you on the potential and limits of your cognitive and physical abilities. You decide to wait in a short line outside of a closed room, approximately 10 feet by 10 feet, which has a sign indicating a wait time of approximately 2 minutes per 4 visitors. After a couple of minutes the entrance door swings open automatically and you enter with your mom, dad, brother, and sister. You take in the surroundings of the room: a window looking out onto a scenic view, a maroon couch, gleaming hardwood floors, a heavy looking metal door—probably the exit—and a variety of puzzles distributed around the perimeter of the room. **


 * Intrigued, you are about to head towards the puzzle directly across from you, when the lights abruptly switch off and the heavy metal door dramatically locks behind you. A deep and mysterious voice instructs you to go to a station and finish the puzzle as quickly as possible in order to exit the room. Mid-way through the instruction being given, the room gradually begins to shake. The lights suddenly turn back on and you are flustered. “Your challenge has begun.” **


 * The goal of this exhibit is to examine how discomfort and slight panic affects the cognitive abilities of the visitors. The design of the exhibit is to take the visitors out of their comfort zone. It was not designed to simply throw the visitors into a shaking room, but rather, they enter a room and the sudden black-out and voice are what frightens the visitors because they are under abnormal circumstances. Typically, human life is already filled with an assortment of sounds and people scurrying around to get to places; hence, a loud and shaking room would not necessarily surprise the visitors. They are forced to step out of their comfort zone. In order to induce panic a series of special effects will be installed in the room. Various objects will drop from the ceiling, approximately 8 metres above the floor, and automatically reset using a pulley system. Windows containing an LCD screen will display a simulation of buildings collapsing outside. Similarly, a projection onto the floor will simulate the floor cracking and crumbling beneath the visitors. They will also be able to feel the ground shake. [insert explanation short of floor mechanisms if needed].During all of these events, it is the visitor’s goal to complete the relatively simple puzzle as fast as they can. These puzzles will test different cognitive abilities which are affected under certain levels of stress. [insert explanation of exactly which puzzle and areas of the brain it tests.] Timed by an automatic timer, the visitor will exit through the door which automatically opens when all of the visitors have completed their respective puzzles. **
 * Before the end of the exhibit there will be various displays and bulletins explaining their experience. They will be able to view a comparison of their time to the average time of an individual their age under stress and without any stress. These statistics will be collected within the science centre prior to the opening of our exhibit. There will be a bulletin explaining exactly what was occurring in their brains when the slight panic and stress was induced by the special effects. **
 * As an effort to include all visitors, on the opposite side of the entrance there will be a two way mirror for visitors to observe what the panicked visitors are going through while inside the room. **


 * Diving into the world of science, several hormones are released.**


 * One of the main objectives of this exhibit is to show effects of panic on the visitors’ cognitive abilities. As they experience the thrills of the exhibit, their bodies will undergo symptoms of panic and stress. One of the main symptoms is the release of the hormone/neurotransmitter, epinephrine, also known as adrenaline ( []) . Physically, adrenaline increases heart rate and blood pressure allowing a “fight or flight” response ([]). It also plays a role in diverting blood from certain areas of your brain and into the internal muscles ([]). This may increase their speed or strength; however, to some extent, it decreases their ability to think clearly ([]). The adrenaline surge, which would normally help during times of panic, is instead going to work against the visitors’ ability to solve these puzzles. **


 * Cortisol is a hormone that is regularly released from “the adrenal glands located on top of each kidney” ([]); however, the amount of “cortisol present in the blood varies through the 24 hour cycle, with the highest levels present in the early morning, and the lowest levels present around midnight” ([]). When put under a stressful environment, the bodily response is to secrete more cortisol, which in turn, increases certain metabolic processes. This includes glycolysis: the breaking down of carbohydrates, and gluconeogenesis: the conversion of amino acids into useable carbohydrates in the liver ([]). That is why small amounts of cortisol can give humans short and quick bursts of energy, and heighten alertness. ([]). Cortisol works hand-in-hand with epinephrine to create better and clearer short-term memories, otherwise known as “flash-bulb” memories, and are used “to remember what to avoid in the future” ([]). This hormone also mobilizes energy, moving amino acids ([]) and fats through the blood stream to areas in the body and skeletal muscles that need it ([]). Overall, it is expected that this hormone will increase physical reaction time (due to the short bursts of energy), increase short term memory retention, and increase alertness.**


 * Puzzles (by Charles)**
 * The various puzzles and tasks that will be included within the exhibit are a light-sequence game, “whack-a-fire”, a coloured words puzzle, and a “blocks” puzzle. The light-sequence game is a game with five lights corresponding to five buttons; the lights will flash in a specific order, and the visitor has to remember the sequence and press the buttons in the same order. “Whack-a-fire” is similar to whack-a-mole, except there will be fake (i.e. plastic) flames shooting out instead of moles. The coloured words puzzle is similar to the puzzle in the cafeteria, in which the names of various colours are displayed in different coloured fonts, and the visitor has to select the colour of the font instead of the name being displayed. Blocks is a puzzle played on a touch screen where there are rectangular blocks arranged on a 2-D grid, and the objective is to move one block on the grid to another location. (Image, if you want to use it: []) The light-sequence game tests memory abilities, focusing on the temporal lobe of the brain, whereas the puzzles allow visitors to exercise their rational thinking and problem-solving skills, provided by the frontal lobe. “Whack-a-fire” tests visitors’ reactions times under stress. Along with these puzzles will be information discussing whether or not the visitors’ abilities feel hindered by stress, and how decision making under stress is a vital skill applicable everywhere in real life (e.g. from stressing for deadlines, to even a car accident).**


 * Edit 4__(additons about puzzles and parts of the brain by pam)__**


 * Imagine that you are enjoying a calm afternoon at the Ontario Science Centre. You are on the fifth floor in the new Human Limits Exhibition. Surrounding you are exhibits that test and inform you on the potential and limits of your cognitive and physical abilities. You decide to wait in a short line outside of a closed room, approximately 10 feet by 10 feet, which has a sign indicating a wait time of approximately 2 minutes per 4 visitors. After a couple of minutes the entrance door swings open automatically and you enter with your mom, dad, brother, and sister. You take in the surroundings of the room: a window looking out onto a scenic view, a maroon couch, gleaming hardwood floors, a heavy looking metal door—probably the exit—and a variety of puzzles distributed around the perimeter of the room. **


 * Intrigued, you are about to head towards the puzzle directly across from you, when the lights abruptly switch off and the heavy metal door dramatically locks behind you. A deep and mysterious voice instructs you to go to a station and finish the puzzle as quickly as possible in order to exit the room. Mid-way through the instruction being given, the room gradually begins to shake. The lights suddenly turn back on and you are flustered. “Your challenge has begun.” **


 * The goal of this exhibit is to examine how discomfort and slight panic affects the cognitive abilities of the visitors. The design of the exhibit is to take the visitors out of their comfort zone. It was not designed to simply throw the visitors into a shaking room, but rather, they enter a room and the sudden black-out and voice are what frightens the visitors because they are under abnormal circumstances. Typically, human life is already filled with an assortment of sounds and people scurrying around to get to places; hence, a loud and shaking room would not necessarily surprise the visitors. They are forced to step out of their comfort zone. In order to induce panic a series of special effects will be installed in the room. Various objects will drop from the ceiling, approximately 8 metres above the floor, and automatically reset using a pulley system. Windows containing an LCD screen will display a simulation of buildings collapsing outside. Similarly, a projection onto the floor will simulate the floor cracking and crumbling beneath the visitors. They will also be able to feel the ground shake. ** With regards to maintaining balanceas the room is moving, guests will be excerzising a part of the brain called the cerebellum, which is a structure associated with the regulation and coordination of movement, posture, and balance. ( **[]) [insert explanation short of floor mechanisms if needed].During all of these events, it is the visitor’s goal to complete the relatively simple puzzle as fast as they can. These puzzles will test different cognitive abilities which are affected under certain levels of stress. [ **


 * Timed by an automatic timer, the visitor will exit through the door which automatically opens when all of the visitors have completed their respective puzzles. **
 * Before the end of the exhibit there will be various displays and bulletins explaining their experience. They will be able to view a comparison of their time to the average time of an individual their age under stress and without any stress. These statistics will be collected within the science centre prior to the opening of our exhibit. There will be a bulletin explaining exactly what was occurring in their brains when the slight panic and stress was induced by the special effects. **
 * As an effort to include all visitors, on the opposite side of the entrance there will be a two way mirror for visitors to observe what the panicked visitors are going through while inside the room. **


 * With regards to panic and fear, the** amygdala is an almond shaped structure of the brain that has a role in producing fear. In response, an increased heart rat and the release of stress hormones are triggered.([])**

One of the main objectives of this exhibit is to show effects of panic on the visitors’ cognitive abilities. As they experience the “horrors” of the exhibit, their bodies will undergo symptoms of panic. One of the main symptoms is the release of the hormone/neurotransmitter, epinephrine, also known as adrenaline ( []). Physically, adrenaline increases heart rate and blood pressure allowing a “fight or flight” response ([]). It also plays a role in diverting blood from certain areas of your brain and into the internal muscles ([]). This may increase their speed or strength; however, to some extent, it decreases their ability to think clearly ([]). The adrenaline surge, which would normally help during times of panic, is instead going to work against the visitors’ ability to solve these puzzles.

Cortisol is a hormone that is regularly released from “the adrenal glands located on top of each kidney” ([]); however, the amount of “cortisol present in the blood varies through the 24 hour cycle, with the highest levels present in the early morning, and the lowest levels present around midnight” ([]). When put under a stressful environment, the bodily response is to secrete more cortisol, which in turn, increases certain metabolic processes. This includes glycolysis: the breaking down of carbohydrates, and gluconeogenesis: the conversion of amino acids into useable carbohydrates in the liver ([]). That is why small amounts of cortisol can give humans short and quick bursts of energy, and heighten alertness. ([]). Cortisol works hand-in-hand with epinephrine to create better and clearer short-term memories, otherwise known as “flash-bulb” memories, and are used “to remember what to avoid in the future” ([]). This hormone also mobilizes energy, moving amino acids ([]) and fats through the blood stream to areas in the body and skeletal muscles that need it ([]). Overall, it is expected that this hormone will increase physical reaction time (due to the short bursts of energy), increase short term memory retention, and increase alertness.

Puzzles

The various puzzles and tasks that will be included within the exhibit, all of which excersize various parts of the brain as visitors work diligently to complete them.
 * ** For instance, there will be a puzzle with blocks of words that guests can twist anda arrange to create a complete sentence. This exercises the left side of the brain, responsible for language and comprehension. Visual puzzles excersize the **the occipital lobe of the brain. These puzzles include a light-sequence game called “whack-a-fire”, a coloured words puzzle, and a “blocks” puzzle. The light-sequence game is a game with five lights corresponding to five buttons; the lights will flash in a specific order, and the visitor has to remember the sequence and press the buttons in the same order. “Whack-a-fire” is similar to whack-a-mole, except there will be fake (i.e. plastic) flames shooting out instead of moles. The coloured words puzzle is similar to the puzzle in the cafeteria, in which the names of various colours are displayed in different coloured fonts, and the visitor has to select the colour of the font instead of the name being displayed. Blocks is a puzzle played on a touch screen where there are rectangular blocks arranged on a 2-D grid, and the objective is to move one block on the grid to another location. (Image, if you want to use it: []) The light-sequence game tests memory abilities, focusing on the temporal lobe of the brain, whereas the puzzles allow visitors to exercise their rational thinking and problem-solving skills, provided by the frontal lobe. “Whack-a-fire” tests visitors’ reactions times under stress. Along with these puzzles will be information discussing whether or not the visitors’ abilities feel hindered by stress, and how decision making under stress is a vital skill applicable everywhere in real life (e.g. from stressing for deadlines, to even a car accident).