PSImage is a scientific laboratory dedicated to researching visual perception and cognitive representation of film/TV images, and to studies of current phenomenology in cinema and media. The laboratory is a structure operating within the University of Craiova and is part of the RESEARCH CENTER IN COMMUNICATION, EDUCATION AND MEDIA SCIENCES.
The laboratory studies the cognitive effects produced by these interactions through experiments and tests, as well as by connecting knowledge from various fields such as neuroscience, cinema and media, visual arts, music, psychology, audiovisual communication, anthropology, sociology, semiotics and philosophy.
The research team is interdisciplinary and includes specialists in neuroscience, film and TV image, filmology, film analysis and criticism, communication sciences, media and social sciences, as well as visual artists. The research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of visual perception/cognitive representation of images, on the analysis of modern cinema and media products, and on the creation of a scientific discourse that analyzes, explains and defines human interactions with audiovisual products.
The PSImage Laboratory conducts research that focuses on the architecture of cognitive representations based on image or sound and studies the genesis of emotional and aesthetic experiences. Our research projects attempt to quantify the contexts, conditions, and premises by which cognitive processes produce the experiences mentioned above.
Furthermore, we analyze the impact of cinematographic means of expression and composition on the mechanisms of visual perception and cognitive representation. These investigations seek to define the configuration of processes and brain mechanisms that generate superior cognitive representations based on the reading of mechanically reproduced images or the listening of sounds.
The laboratory primarily conducts fundamental research, but also applied research, with the aim of developing tools, instruments or applications that can be used in a wide range of fields (cinematography and media, advertising, virtual reality, mental health).
