← PhD overview · Study 1 of 3 · Next: Study 2 →
Aim
An exploratory study was conducted using kinetic meditation to test the interaction design approach, technology approach, and the decision about what kind of movement-based mindfulness practice would be used. In the first study, kinetic meditation was used as the mindfulness practice context, and the feedback was processed using the Deep Learning Pre-trained model using PoseNet, which was delivered remotely. The preliminary result showed that there was interest in the novel experience. However, more improvements were needed.
Participants
In the first study, a total of six participants were recruited, with the study being conducted in two iterations. In the first iteration of the study, 4 people participated, and all participants were female. The age range was 28-35 years old. Three of them had prior experience with meditation but were unfamiliar with kinetic meditation, and none were actively practising meditation at the time.
In the second iteration, two additional participants were recruited. The age range was 25-32 years old. One had experience with meditation but was not currently practising, while the other was actively practising kinetic meditation in a face-to-face setting. These participants provided diverse perspectives that helped in understanding the interaction with movement-based mindfulness practices.
Method
The app was developed to address the research questions and to explore user interactions with mindfulness applications. Its primary aim was to support movement-based mindfulness practices for individuals practising at home and to gain insights into their user experiences.
Participants were recruited through mindfulness communities. The experiment was conducted remotely due to lockdown restrictions. The interested participants were scheduled for an online meeting during which they received detailed information about the study.
Analysis
The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) (10 minutes) was administered to assess mindfulness in five dimensions: Observing, Describing, Acting with Awareness, Nonjudgment, and Nonreactivity (Baer et al., 2006). This questionnaire is widely used to evaluate mindfulness attentional skills and their impact on psychological and physiological well-being in both clinical and general populations (Baer et al., 2006) (see the thesis appendix).
The Body Awareness Questionnaire (5 minutes) followed, designed to measure self-reported attentiveness to normal non-motive body processes. It assesses sensitivity to bodily cycles and rhythms, the ability to detect small changes in normal functioning, and the ability to anticipate bodily reactions (Mehling et al., 2009) (see the thesis appendix).
Russell’s two-dimensional circumplex state model (5 minutes) was used to capture emotional responses. This model categorizes emotions based on arousal and valence dimensions. Participants were presented with an arousal-valence emotional chart and asked to select three emotions they experienced during the session (see Appendix D of the thesis).
Findings
The expertise of the users related to mindfulness could influence their feedback. In the first exploratory study, 4 participants never experienced kinetic meditation. All have some experience in meditation, such as yoga, but none are practitioners. None of them use mobile or other forms of digital meditation. In the second iteration of the study, two participants, one experienced in meditation, were recruited. The result of the study is described below. For the qualitative analysis, the data was from the first study since the second study only had two participants; therefore, it lacked more statistical power; instead, more exploration data and qualitative data were analysed to inform future studies.
What it led to
Some suggestions and improvements could be implemented in future studies to enhance the user experience. Audio feedback and gesture input implementation is one of the suggestions. Audio feedback complements the visual feedback of the system, and a subtle design of the audio could be used. Designing more subtle audio feedback and conducting a participatory design with Tai Chi experts and practitioners. Gestures would enhance user feeling in control and provide better ease of use as the users would be located quite far from the device that runs the systems. Another option would be to use a multi-device, such as a wearable or smartwatch, to control the system from distant locations and allow the users to control the settings, such as starting or stopping the study.
References
- Baer, R.A., Smith, G.T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J. and Toney, L., 2006. Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13(1), pp.27–45. doi:10.1177/1073191105283504
- Mehling, W.E., Gopisetty, V., Daubenmier, J., Price, C.J., Hecht, F.M. and Stewart, A., 2009. Body awareness: construct and self-report measures. PLoS ONE, 4(5), e5614. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005614