AAAS 2026: The felt experience of risk: cross-modal illusions for scalable disaster awareness

During PyCon JP 2025, I took courage to deliver a lightning talk. I am pleased to have received positive reception on my presentation. Fueled by new motivation, I decided to submit an abstract to the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting 2026 to see how it will be received by other audiences. I'm glad my submission for a postdoc talk was accepted. I met new friends and had a really good time in Phoenix, Arizona.

A slide from my talk

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Details

Title: The felt experience of risk: cross-modal illusions for scalable disaster awareness

Authors: May Kristine Jonson Carlon

Venue: AAAS Annual Meeting 2026

Date: February 14, 2026

Abstract

Effective risk communication is a global challenge. Warnings can fail when they lack visceral impact. For instance, the 1991 Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines demonstrated a successful and timely evacuation of around 70,000 people despite its massive scale. On the other hand, Typhoon Haiyan (2013), also in the Philippines, claimed over 6000 lives despite early warnings. This highlighted a critical science communication failure: communities received alerts, but they could not feel the magnitude of the danger.

Physical simulators such as the earthquake experience rooms in Japan may provide the necessary immersive experience, but their high cost is a hindrance to more widespread use. A scalable alternative could be cross-modal illusions: exploiting multisensory integration. Synchronized visual and auditory cues, such as large-scale motion and low-frequency rumble, can generate the illusion of physical sensations such as shaking, heat, or storm surge. This may give communities a visceral sense of disaster risk. Using inexpensive hardware and adaptable data pipelines, we can simulate these dangers without costly infrastructure. By giving immersive experiences, we can leverage scalable science to prepare people more effectively for the next crisis.