In the movie Interstellar(2014), Joseph gave a file to Romilly, who was filled with anxiety. The music, which had sounds of weed insects and water from the Earth, was aimed to create emotional stability, like ASMR does. After the first ASMR appeared on YouTube in 2008, ASMR became popular in America and Australia. The CBT reporter would like to introduce what ASMR is. -Ed.

  ASMR introduction
  ASMR is the abbreviation of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It has not yet been used as a technical term, but people tend to use it generally. The term Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response was coined by Jennifer Allen in 2010. She said, “It is a neologism for a perceptual phenomenon characterized as a distinct, pleasurable tingling sensation in the head, scalp, back, or peripheral regions of the body in response to visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or cognitive stimuli.” ASMR sounds release stress and comfort people’s minds. Also, it is known as an effective treatment for insomnia sufferers.
  The stimuli of sounds and videos, which are claimed as ASMR, are audio-visual. As explained by a YouTube member, these videos indirectly help people feel other senses, such as touch or taste. Both sides of the stereo speakers have different volumes respectively to intensify the sense from the sounds. To do this, YouTubers usually use binaural recordings. It is the skill where someone records and plays realistic sounds by using a gap between two different volumes. This sound is made by a special microphone that has the same shape as people’s heads. Sounds made using this skill help people experience realistic sounds, but the listener must wear earphones to feel the realism. Most of the ASMR videos include audio and visual. Therefore, the videos are divided into two types. One is ‘no talking’, and the other is ‘talking’, and ‘talking’ tends to be filmed with a soft-spoken intonation.
  There are many different types of ASMR sounds like whispering, tapping, scratching, and crinkling. Also, there is a special type of ASMR: role playing. For example, in role playing, uploaders help listeners feel like they are in a real beauty salon or barbershop. Uploaders use hair clippers or trimmers and say, “Now, I will cut your hair.” These are called ASMR triggers by listeners. Because all people have their own tastes, each person likes different triggers. For instance, opinions about mouth sounds(or lip smacking) are divided. Examples of mouth sounds are swallowing saliva, smacking lips, or moving the mouth. In posted comments of mouth sound ASMR, the CBT reporter saw comments like, “Lip smacking irritates me,” or “This sound is really fascinating.”
  According to statistics by the National Health Insurance Service, the number of sleepless people had increased from 228,000 people in 2008 to 357,000 people in 2012. In this situation, ASMR has become popular among insomniacs. They said, “We can relax when we get stimulations from ASMR sounds. We believe that pleasure in the brain provides psychological therapy.” In an article published in the Hankook Ilbo Newspaper, Bae Myeong-jin, a professor in Soongsil University, explained, “Sound has the power to recall pleasant things to the mind. It is the same thing if you are listening to the sound of rain and you naturally envision fried foods.” Similarly, ASMR videos give auditory pleasure.

  How popular is ASMR?
  If you search for ASMR on YouTube, you can find 1.9 million videos about it, as of August 2015. Among them, 60,000 ASMR movies are made by Koreans. It shows that Koreans are one of the main consumers of ASMR, but this CBT reporter is going to introduce some of the most popular ASMR YouTubers regardless of their nationality. They have their own personality, and they handle different kinds of ASMR.
  SOUNDsculptures is a foreign male uploader. He usually uploads a wide range of sounds that you can easily find in your everyday life, and he popularized the binaural microphone. He has a lot of popularity among the beginners. Basically, he doesn’t upload his face, and he tends to upload simple things and their sounds. After listening to some of his contents, CBT recommends ‘newspaper’ and ‘keyboard tapping’. They make the heart comfortable because they are the sounds which you can easily find in your everyday life.



  MassageASMR is also a foreign male uploader. His other name is Dr. Dmitri. As you can guess from his YouTube ID, he is a massage therapist. Therefore, the early contents he uploaded were mainly role playing, but now he shows different kinds of contents. By using several types of items to make comfortable sounds, he makes ‘No- talking ASMR’ categories, which usually run from 5 to 10 hours respectively and uploads them onto YouTube. Jeong Jeong-ho(’14, School of Business), who recommended MassageASMR to CBT, said, “When I listened to ASMR sounds by using my earphones, ‘ASMR 10 Hours of Tapping, Crinkle & Trigger Sounds’ was the most comfortable sound. I felt itchy inside of my ears and kept laughing.”



  ASMRrequests is a foreign female YouTuber. Lim Seong-chun(’10, Dept. of Biosystem Engineering), who recommended ASMRrequests, said, “The universe ASMR series called ‘Departure’ is the most famous. Although it is virtual role playing, I felt as if I travelled through the universe.”



  Thomwhat is a Korean female YouTuber. She is very popular because she uses basic triggers, like tapping and scratching, and because her voice is soft. Park Jae-kyoung(’14, Dept. of English Language and Literature) said, “I like her because she has a pretty face and her voice is soft. I recommend ‘hair salon role playing’ among her videos. I saw many videos where people mentioned they felt like they were in a hair salon.”

  What are the problems and side effects of ASMR?
  There is much controversy in ASMR because it is not completely researched. Its medical effects are not totally proven because there is no scientific theory. Also, the popularity of suggestive and twisted ASMR caused additional controversy. For example, there is a suggestive ASMR called cheek kissing ASMR. It is made by suggestive sounds like kissing sounds. Japanese call it ‘eargasm’ because it makes people feel orgasms via their ear, but ASMR community sites and YouTubers insist that ASMR is not related with orgasmic content. Also, addiction is possible, so if someone wants to use ASMR, they must find suitable ASMR for themselves and must not overuse them.

By Go So-young
sy35@cbnu.ac.kr