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The magic words: Using computers to uncover mental associations for use in magic trick design
Howard Williams1, Peter W McOwan1
1School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University London, London, United Kingdom.
Plos One
|August 10, 2017
Summary
Computational systems and natural language processing are used to design magic tricks by sourcing psychological concepts and understanding human associative memory. A new card trick was developed using this computational approach.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Computer Science
- Psychology
Background:
- Previous research explored computational systems for magic trick design.
- This study introduces computer technology for natural language data sourcing and processing in magic trick creation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To advance computational approaches in magic trick design.
- To investigate crowd-sourcing psychological concepts for magic.
- To explore the role of human associative memory in magical effects.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing computer technology for natural language data sourcing and processing.
- Investigating crowd-sourcing of psychological concepts.
- Developing a new physical card trick with partial computational design.
- Configuring computational systems to search and explore spectator-understandable conceptual spaces.
Main Results:
- A novel computational methodology for magic trick design was established.
- The study explored the integration of psychological principles and associative memory into magic effects.
- A new card trick was successfully developed and evaluated, demonstrating the efficacy of the computational approach.
Conclusions:
- Computational systems, particularly using natural language processing, can significantly aid in the creative process of designing magic tricks.
- Leveraging crowd-sourced psychological concepts and understanding human associative memory enhances the effectiveness of magical effects.
- The developed computational approach offers a novel method for creating engaging and understandable magic tricks.
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