Relaxing ASMR Sounds are Harder to Re-Create Than You’d Think

Certain sounds can induce sensation to people with Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. And to understand why, researchers are trying to re-create these sounds using machine learning.

By Ida Emilie Steinmark
Nov 17, 2022 8:00 PMNov 17, 2022 7:40 PM
ASMR
(Credit: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock)

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Have you ever felt a tingling sensation sweep across your head and neck as someone brushes your hair or speaks softly to you? If so, you probably fall among the 20 percent of people who experience Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).

Because it is pleasurable and relaxing, some people watch YouTube videos that induce the sensation through sounds and visuals. But despite its popularity online, researchers still do not know how it works. Now, a team claims to have generated ‘artificial’ ASMR audio for the first time, made entirely without natural sound. This, they say, could help us understand how sound causes tingles.

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