Lumina
An exploration of how interactive lights can support mindfulness
Leyla Allendes
Interaction Design One-year master Supervisor: Dario Salvi Spring 2020
Abstract
This thesis project presents a research through design process that has aimed to explore how we can design interactive technologies that can support mindfulness practices in beginners. This has been done by designing a meditative lamp, Lumina, which can be controlled by the user’s neural oscillations. The user interacts with the lamp by changing alpha and beta brain waves levels through meditation. The prototype has been evaluated with four participants and the testing sessions had three stages: a preliminary questionnaire to learn about participants mindfulness level, an interaction with my prototype providing the opportunity to explore
mindfulness and electroencephalography (EEG), and a post-interview to reflect on their experience with the prototype. The biggest challenge of this project was to support mindfulness without disrupting the practice. Lumina has been developed through an iterative process, guided by relevant literature and works in the field of meditation, neurology, and calm technology.
Keywords: Brain-computer interface, research through design, mindfulness, calm technology, ambient display.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the Mindlab, especially to Mateo Mazzanti for his help and for letting me explore OpenBCIs. I would also like to thank Dario Salvi and everybody that supported me during this process.
1 INTRODUCTION………...6
1.1 Purpose of the study……… 7
1.2 Research questions………...7
2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK……….8
2.1 Mindfulness & Psychology………...8
2.2 The brain………. 9
2.3 Technology………11
3 RELATED WORK……….. 14
3.1 Magnetic Mind……….. 14
3.2 MoodLight……….. 14
3.3 Breathe 2 meditation lamp………15
3.4 My Virtual Dream………...15
3.5 The breathing light……… 16
3.6 Sway: Mindfulness in motion app……… 16
3.7 Muse 2………16
3.8 Unyte Interactive Meditation……….17
3.9 The mindfulness app……….18
4 METHODS………. 19
4.1 Double Diamond………19
4.2 Research Through Design………20
4.3 Sketching………..20 4.4 Prototyping………. 20 4.5 Testing………22 4.6 Ethics………..23 5 DESIGN PROCESS………24 5.1 Exploration………24 5.2 Challenge definition………..25
5.3 Prototyping and testing………26
5.3.1Interactive System………...26
5.3.2 Physical form………27
6 THE FINAL DESIGN………. 30
7 RESULTS………36 8 DISCUSSION………37 9 CONCLUSION……… 41 10 FUTURE WORK………42 11 REFERENCES………. 43 11. 1 Figure page……….48 12 APPENDIX………. 50
attention in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and interaction design. In this practice, one can focus and be in the moment without thinking about something else. It is a full focus practice that has proven benefits, such as stress reduction, reduced emotional reactivity, increased cognitive flexibility, increased focus, boosts to working memory, among others (Davis et al., 2012). Yet, some people can find that this practice is difficult to achieve, and a large part of the initial enthusiasm can fade away before they can even experience the benefits of this meditation. Mostly, some people give up because they do not know what they are doing, nor whether they reach the level of concentration, or whether they are making any progress in the practice. Others fall asleep during meditation sessions. Several mobile phone apps in the market are supposed to support mindfulness, but there is not a reliable way to measure if they do this or not. Judson Brewer, Director of Research at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts, points out that many companies say “based in science” but they are only adding a link to a study about mindfulness in general (Tlalka, 2016). Taking a third wave HCI approach, I wanted to explore the new interactions that were possible with novel technologies, such as brain-computer interface, in order to design positive technology that one could use to improve mental well-being without losing the focus on the meditation. To design an artifact that would not disrupt the user’s mediation practice was the biggest challenge of this project and therefore I wanted to design an ambient display lamp that would be in the user’s peripheral area of attention and not in the center where
INTRODUCTION
meditation should be. Brain-computer interface offers the opportunity to measure neural oscillation changes that are related to different states of mind. Therefore, I measured Electroencephalography (EEG), and the neurofeedback information that was provided by this system was translated into a light.
This light only turns on when the meditation level is reached without diverting the attention of the participants, but at the same time informing in a subtle way about the user’s focus level.
1.1 Purpose of the study
This study explores the opportunities that technology can present when mindfulness beginners want to learn this meditative technique. Moreover, this study explores how an ambient display can inform mindfulness beginners about their progress in the practice.
1.2 Research questions
How can we design interactive technology that can support mindfulness practices in beginners?
2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 Mindfulness & Psychology
Mindfulness is the psychological process of paying attention to the present. It comes from sati from Buddhist traditions, which means awareness or mindfulness (Van Gordon at el., 2014) and it is a practice based on Zen, Vipassana, and Tibetan meditation techniques (Nisbet, 2017). Jon Kabat-Zinn, who is considered as the father of mindfulness and the responsible for making that mindfulness becoming widely popular in the western world, defines mindfulness as the awareness that appears through “paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally”. In 1979 Jon Kabat-Zinn introduced Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to chronically ill patients that did not respond well to traditional treatments, and the result was successful. Through this meditation, patients learned a new way to relate themselves to their pain where they observed and treated with compassion. Mindfulness is a meditation practice that involves acceptance, leaving the right and wrong, past and future to focus only on the present. There are several mindfulness techniques, but in general, they involve mental imagery, awareness of body and mind, breathing practice, and body relaxation (Wong, 2020). Positive psychology is a term that was first introduced by Martin Seligman in 2000. Seligman was frustrated about how psychology was extremely focused on the negative, such as trauma, mental illness, pain, and very little was dedicated to wellbeing, happiness, and flourishing. Seligman proposed a shift of the focus from life-depleting to focus on that is life-giving creating this new subfield of psychology (Ackerman, 2020). Christopher Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, defines positive psychology
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
as “the scientific study of what makes life most worth living”. This approach studies behaviors, thoughts, and feelings with a focus on strengths, and not on the weakness, taking the weakness, taking the average people up to the best that they can be, instead of only focusing on the ones that are struggling with mental illness (Peterson, 2008). This approach was present in my design as my stakeholders could be anyone interested in improving their wellbeing by using mindfulness meditation techniques, without being limited to those who suffer from mental illness but could also benefit from my design.
2.2 The brain
Neural oscillations or brainwaves are caused by the electrical signals that the brain uses to communicate. In the human brain, we find gamma, alpha, beta, theta, and delta brainwaves. These neural oscillations are present at all times, but one or more can be predominant. Ned Herrmann, who is a pioneer of brain dominance technology (Lumsdaine et al.,1994) and who has developed models of brain activity, defines the different brainwaves from the less active state to the most active state:
• Delta brainwaves (0.1-4Hz) have the greatest amplitude and slowest frequency. When we fall asleep it is the time when these brainwaves are predominant in our brain. If delta brainwaves go to zero it means the brain is dead.
• Theta brainwaves (4-7Hz) have greater amplitude and slower frequency and are predominant in a daydreamer mind. It is a state where tasks are so
automatic that one can mentally detach from them. People running, driving, taking showers, and getting good ideas while they are doing these tasks are usually in this state of mind.
• Alpha brainwaves (7-12Hz) are related to a non-arousal state of mind, as they are slower and higher in amplitude. An example of an activity when alpha brainwaves are predominant is when a person takes a break to reflect; for example, a person who after completing a task sits down to rest. Alpha brainwaves are characteristics of a relaxed mind, and therefore relevant to my design.
• Beta brainwaves (12-30Hz) are generated when the brain is aroused and active; they are characteristics of an engaged mind. These waves have low amplitude but are the fastest of activity when beta is predominant is when a person is active in a conversation; for example, a debater, a teacher doing a lesson, etc.
• Gamma brainwaves (32-130HZ) were unknown until the implementation of digital EEG because the conventional analog EEG system could only measure until 25Hz. These brainwaves have the fastest
frequency with the smallest amplitude.
“The feeling of blessing” is associated with gamma brainwaves and trained meditators such as monks and nuns have reported this feeling. These brainwaves are related to high levels of concentration (Diaz, 2019). Gamma brainwaves can be self-induced through meditation, and even if everybody can generate gamma brainwaves, they only last for a fraction of second, however, experienced meditators can make them last longer time.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Electroencephalography (EEG) is a monitoring procedure for observing the electrical activity in the brain. It is used in many types of research as a method for evaluating the meditating brain due to its capacity to give information about the different neural oscillations and their percentage. The kind of information that is
provided by an EEG procedure is called
neurofeedback, also known as a neurobiofeedback or neurotheraphy. It is real-time biofeedback that informs about the neural oscillations and their percentage
working harmoniously together or not (Stoler, 2014). This information can be used to teach self-regulating brain activity.
Moreover, Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are computer-based systems that provides the brain with new output channels depending on brain activity rather than nerves and muscles (Wolpaw, 2009). They allow direct communication between the wired brain and external devices. However, EEG by itself is not a BCI because the system is only recording without generating an output that interacts with the user (Shih et al., 2012).
2.3 Technology
Calm technology is designed to be in the user’s periphery rather than in the center of attention.
However, this type of technology can move easily from the periphery to the center of attention. Mark Weiser uses ““periphery” to name what we are attuned to without attending to explicitly” (Weiser & Brown, 1995). This technology should: require a small amount of attention, inform and create calm, amplify the best of technology and the best of humanity, can
communicate without speaking, and more. (Case, 2015).
Positive technology is the type of technology the goal of which is to improve the quality of our personal experience (Botella et al, 2012). Tchiki Davis, an expert of well-being technology, describes four types of positive technology: the informational type, the academic type, the applied approach, and the passive approach. The informational type is the one that provides information that one could potentially use to enhance one’s life. The academic type is the one that provides activities, such as lessons and assignments that helps one to practice the skills to improve well-being. The applied approach merges enhancing technology with some other activity that one is already doing. The passive approach helps to build unconscious instead of an effortful action. In my design, I am focusing on the informational type of positive technology.
Moreover, slow technology is a design approach that Lars Hallnäs and Johan Redström presented in 2001. In this approach, technology is seen as a medium that promotes moments of reflection and mental rest rather than efficiency. In a similar path, techno-spirituality is a term that Buie and Blythe came up in 2013 when researching the combination of technology and spiritual practices. It focuses on how technology can empower feelings of respect, transcendence, and mindfulness. Buie and Blythe compared the big number of apps that related spirituality religion with the small number of published researches from the ACM digital library regarding this topic. They conclude that more research is needed in this field.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
As shown above, I wanted to design something that could promote meditation by requiring a small part of the user’s attention. An ambient displayer is peripheral non-critical information that is in the periphery of the user’s attention(Mankoff et al., 2003). An ambient displayer uses a different object to interface with the user, and in my project, I am designing a lamp that can display information in a subtle way to no interrupt the mindfulness practice.
3 RELATED WORK
In this section I present other designs and art projects that work with similar thematic as the ones that I was interested in for my project.
3.1 Magnetic Mind (2013) is an interactive art piece by Lindsay Browder. This piece uses a Neurosky Mindwave EEG that is connected to an Arduino Duemilanove. While brain activity is detected, a power resistor converts the Arduino control signal into a bigger current. This current is enough to generate a strong magnetic field that causes the observable transformation in the ferrofluid. In words of the creator: “Spikes form in the ferrofluid form at the locus of magnetic field lines and disappear when the magnetic field ceases to exist. In this way, the mysterious black fluid comes alive with your thoughts.” From this project, I liked that users can use this piece as a feedback of greater attention or meditation as the neural oscillations are similar in these two states. I also liked the implementation of an Arduino in the system, and the general look of this art piece.
3.2 MoodLight (2015) is an interactive ambient lightning system that responds to biosensor data. The biosensor input is related with the users’ level of arousal. The changes in the level are displayed as a different color. This is a project from Jaime Snyder, Mark Matthews, Jaqueline Chien, Pamara F. Chang, Emily Sun, Saeed Abdullah, and Geri Gay from the Department of communication from Cornell University in New York. The system consists of Electrodermal Activity (EDA) sensors that are measuring the skin changes resulting from Figure 1 Magnetic Mind
Figure 2 Neurosky Mindwave EEG
Figure 4 Magnetic Mind detail
RELATED WORK
activity changes in the nervous system, an android device, a series of commercially available programmable light bulbs produced under the HUE brand by Philips, and a set of desk lamps. Their goal was to explore the personal and social implications of ambient display of biosensor data. From this project, I liked not only the use of biosensors as the input of the system but also their research focus. However, I think that they were not specific enough about the situation where this design could be placed. In my opinion, the personal and social implications are related with the situation and the implications are probably different in a work environment than at home.
3.3 Breathe 2 meditation lamp (2015) is a visual guide for learn and practice breathe meditation from BreatheNation. The user needs to follow the light with their respiration for five minutes, but the lamp is not having any input from the user. This lamp it is 3-inches Himalayan salt sphere with a wooden base and USB cable. From this lamp, I liked that is used as a visual guide for meditation, but I think that it would be more interesting if the user could interact with the lamp in a more active way. I think that to add a breathing sensor to the lamp would be the next step for this design.
3.4 My Virtual Dream: Collective Neurofeedback in an Immersive Art Environment (2015) is a large-scale experiment with EEG and BCI as part of an art installation. In this experiment, 523 participants played a collective computer game with their minds for one night. Participants manipulated different states of mind,
Figure 6 Electrodermal Activity sensor
Figure 5 Breathe 2 meditation lamp detail
Figure 7 Breathe 2 meditation lamp
such as relaxation and concentration to play. This is a study from Natasha Kovacevic, Petra Ritter, William Tays, Sylvain Moreno, and Anthony Randal McIntosh from the University of Toronto, Canada. From this experiment, I liked that participants used their brain waves instead of a joystick to play and that they projected the game in the dome.
3.5 The breathing light-An enclosed space for reflection (2016) is a design from Kristina Höök. This design is part of the Soma Project where she explores designs that engage participants to experience bodily sensations rather than external interactions. The design is made of string curtains and fabrics that the user crawls under creating a close space. There is a breath sensor that measures the movements of the user´s chest that is connected to the lamp making the light dim at the same time as the user´s breathe. The user of the breathing light lies down and follows the light by breathing. From this project, I liked not only that includes a breathing sensor but also that the design proposes an enclosed new space. When the user lies down, the string curtains does not let the user see outside of the lamp creating this new space which I think is good for reflection.
3.6 Sway: Mindfulness in motion app (2017) presents a new way of interaction through the motion sensors of the
user’s phone. It is an interactive meditation that uses the phone as a motion sensing to detect slow and continuous movement of the user to bring attention to the body. The phone senses the movement and provides audio and visual feedback to help to sustain Figure 9 My Virtual Dream inside
Figure 10 The breathing light
Figure 11 The breathing light
RELATED WORK
the motion and sustain the focus of attention for a longer period of time. From this app, I liked that involves physical movement as the user interacts through the motion sensor of the phone.
3.7 Muse 2 (2018) is a multi-sensor device that measures brain activity, breathing, heart rate, and body movements to help to develop a stable meditation practice. Muse 2 consist of two parts; an EEG headset and an app. This product uses Bluetooth and the information provided can be used as a way to track the progress in the practice. From this company, I liked that they use the concept of “technology enhanced meditation”, and that they are involved in research and one can access to those researches through their website. The only thing that I can criticize of this product is that is screen-based. In my opinion, it is difficult to maintain the focus if one is with the phone as the phone has too many distractions and it can be difficult to resist to not check the phone which would interrupt the meditation practice.
3.8 Unyte Interactive Meditation (2019) is a relaxation program that uses immersive experiences, real-time feedback and breathes techniques. The user connects the iom2 biofeedback sensor to his or her ear to measure the heart rate and transmit this information to a phone, computer or tablet in real-time. The variation of the heartbeats is considered as a strong measuring device of meditative state. Further, the user can select from more than 50 interactive experiences following the guide, the breathing information, and VR content for users equipped with VR headset. From this interactive Figure 13 Sway
Figure 14 Muse 2
Figure 15 Muse 2
meditation, I liked the implementation of the ear clip as the input of the system. The iom2 measures heart rate variability that is related with meditation, as this company states that higher levels of heart rate variability are related with a relaxed nervous system. Unyte teaches how to increase the user’s heart rate variability to reach meditation. I also liked that it provides different contents so if you have a VR headset you can also experience a VR content but if you do not have it is not an impediment to use this product.
3.9 The mindfulness app (2019) was ranked as the most popular mindfulness app in 2019 with more than 1 000 000 downloads. This app offers silent or guided meditation from 3 to 30 minutes, reminders to keep the
user’s mind mindful during the day, and statistics to track the user’s meditation journal. From this app, I liked its popularity because it shows that people wants to practice mindfulness, and that there is a market for it. However, I think that this app could grow much more with the implementation of a sensor to have an input form the user as Unyte and Sway, which are listed above, are using.
Figure 17 Unyte Interactive Meditation
METHODS
Figure 19 Double Diamond 4 METHODS
In the following section, I briefly describe different methods that have been used throughout this research project.
4.1 Double Diamond
I have used the double diamond model, from Design Council, to develop my research as it was clear and organized. This model helped me to structure the design thinking and the design process in four stages: discover, define, develop, and delivery. In the first stage, the aim was to understand the problem, and therefore I read different researches and articles that worked in the intersection of the three topics that I was interested on; psychology, the human brain, and technology. In the second stage, I defined that I wanted to work with meditation, I interviewed a Mindfulness coach, and I also defined the problem that I wanted to solve. I started prototyping in the third stage where ideas were still diffuse, but I decided my final design in the last stage of this model. The image bellow shows the diverging and converging moments in the different four stages of the design process.
4.2 Research Through Design
John Zimmerman, Erik Stolterman, and Jodi Forlizzi defined research through design as “a research approach that employs methods and processes from design practice as a legitime method of inquiry” in 2010. In this type of approach, the goal is not to put a product in the market but rather to produce theory for design. Due to the goal of my design process being to explore new interactions for later informing design practices, I used the research through design method. In other words, I explored the implementation of a neurofeedback ambient display in mindfulness practices, linking the theory and creating new knowledge on this field, as Anne Burdick recommends in this type of research. My design-based research was conducted by designing a tangible prototype that aims to be used as a base for reflection.
4.3 Sketching
For this study, I started sketching in an early stage of the ideation process as Buxton proposes. I drew some sketches to evocate, suggest and explore new interactions.
4.4 Prototyping
I have created a prototype that explores how an interactive system could support mindfulness.
According to Houde and Hill prototypes can represent different parts of the design. In my prototype I represented the “Role” and a partial inclusion of the “Look & feel”. According to the authors, the “Role”
METHODS
types of prototypes “are built primary to investigate questions of what an artifact could do for a user” (Houde & Hill, 1997, p.6). The partial inclusion of the “Look & feel” is presented in the shape of the prototype but not in the material that I would like to work.
In my prototype, I used the OpenBCI Headband kit, the OpenBCI GUI, and the OpenBCI Ganglion biosensing board. I added an Arduino Uno and an RGB LED ring to the system.
The OpenBCI EEG Headband Kit that I used it is a dry electrode 8-channel EEG that includes:
• 3 lead wires terminating is snaps for flat EEG snap electrodes
• 2 lead wires terminating in clips for dry comb electrodes
• 2 ear clips
This kit allows three frontal cortex measurement ( F7, AF7, Fp1, Fpz, Fp2, AF8, F8) via the three lead wires with flat EEG snap electrodes ; black, white, and red.
OpenBCI Ganglion was the bio-sensing board that was compatible with OpenBCI´s free open-source software and with Arduino. This device had:
• 4 high-impedance differential inputs
• 1 driven ground (DRL)
• positive voltage supply (Vdd)
• 1 negative voltage supply (Vss)
Although this board can be used for measuring EMG (Electromyography), EEG (Electroencephalography), or ECG (Electrocardiogram) I only measured EEG.
Figure 20 OpenBCI EEG Headband
Figure 21 OpenBCI GUI
Figure 22 OpenBCI Ganglion
OpenBCI GUI was the open-source software that I used to read the raw data that the Ganglion board sends. This application streams data, and it has different widgets, such as Time Series, Networking Widget, Focus Widget, Band Power, Polarity, and more.
4.5 Testing
To test my prototype, I needed to be in contact with people as I had to set up the EEG headset and made sure that the computer was reading the wanted data. It is important to say that this research was conducted during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 where all governments are suggesting social distancing, school closures, and even self-isolation. With that in mind, the selection of participants was reduced to only a few persons between 25-35 years old from my social network who were interested in mental well-being, could participate, and felt safe to be part of this project. This study had three stages: a preliminary questionnaire to learn about participants mindfulness level, an interaction with my prototype providing the opportunity to explore mindfulness and EEG, and a post interview to reflect on their experience with my prototype. To start
the experiment, participants answered the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale also known as MAAS (see appendix 1.0), the most popular scale for measuring in positive psychology (Ackerman, 2020), developed by Kirk Warren Brown and Richard M. Ryan in 2003. This questionnaire was selected among others because this scale consists of fifteen questions that can give an overall idea of the mindfulness level on participant´s daily life, and it would not take a long time to answer during the testing experiment. To score
METHODS
maximal score was 90 points and the minimal was 15 point. Further, I set up the EEG headset and encouraged my participants to find mindfulness while receiving feedback from the light. As the last activity, participants were asked to answer a semi-structured post interview. In semi-structured interviews the interviewer has a list of questions, but he or she can vary the order of them. The interviewer has some freedom to ask new questions in response of the answers (Bryman, 2001). I choose this type of interview as it would allow more open-ended questions and it would be more natural as a way to reflect and give insights about the experience.
4.6 Ethics
This research was conducted following the rules published by the Swedish Research Council´s principle of ethical research. All participants were informed about the purpose of this study. They were also informed about the personal data that I was collecting, why I was collecting, and for how long. They had the opportunity to see the collected data because it was streamed on the computer on purpose. As I streamed data, I did not save this information on my computer, but I film recorded the interaction with the prototype, and the audio of the post interview. Participants provided verbal or written consent for being recorded (see appendix 2.0). As this study involved meditation, it was also important to provide a calm and safe space where participants feel comfortable for relaxation.
5 DESIGN PROCESS 5.1 Exploration
I started this research with a vague idea of what I wanted, but with a clear intention that I wanted to design something that could overlap different areas of my personal interest, such as psychology, the human brain, and technology. I read different research articles about these three different areas and I realized that this triangulation is gaining more attention in HCI as there is plenty of new research about it. In an early stage of this project, I was also interested in Virtual Reality (VR) and therefore I read several research articles about the implementation of VR and EEG headset. After reading what others have done in these fields, I defined a red thread that could run through the three areas. Meditation practices are related to psychology, to the human brain, and to technology; therefore, I decided to work with mindfulness as one specific type of meditation. To confirm what I have been learning from literature, I interviewed a mindfulness coach. The interview (see appendix 3.0) was focused in mindfulness beginners and how they feel comfortable with the practice. The mindful coach stated that:
“Some people are afraid of meditation as they think that it is something difficult, that it is intimidating, and even terrifying, as they think that one needs to become a guru or a yogi for meditation which is not the case.”
She added that anyone can start meditating as the only thing that one needs is the will to do it:
“The brain needs some time to get re program into new patterns but even a completely beginner can meditate perfectly fine even if it is for one minute” she said.
DESIGN PROCESS
She also explained that there are different types of meditations some of them have closed eyes, but some others not. She said that for mindfulness one can have either closed or opened eyes “as long as you are not judging yourself and you are being kind to yourself” she remarked.
She added that some beginners can fall asleep when trying to meditate and therefore it is good to have some light around to keep them awake. She also expressed that beginners need to get used to the distractions that are around.
“The most advanced you become in the practice, the less distracted you are by sounds, and lights, and the things that distracted you in the beginning will not distract you anymore”.
5.2 Challenge definition
At this point, I started to reflect about the uses of VR in meditation. I saw different VR content for meditation, and I realized that if I could not reach an excellent technical quality, the experience would be interrupted, and the user would not achieve mindfulness. The biggest challenge of this project was to find something that would not interrupt the meditation practice, and I realized that a lo-fi VR experience could destroy the mindfulness. In a lo-fi VR experience, it can be easy to focus on the imperfection of the prototype instead of having the full immersive experience. In addition, the VR headset that I had was uncomfortable to wear and it could also disrupt the mindfulness meditation. For these reasons, I discarded the VR as it could counteract the goal of the study. Further, I started to explore ambient displayers as they are much more aligned and
compatible with meditation practices. My goal was to design something that could support mindfulness and in ambient displayers I found subtle interactions that would not take the focus of attention and consequently, would not disrupt the meditation practice.
5.3 Prototyping and testing
Due to the technical characteristics of my project, I started prototyping at an early stage of my design process because I did not have any previous experience with BCIs. To understand BCIs I had to learn how the brain works and the different neural oscillations. When I realized that neural oscillations had different frequencies between 0.1-140 Hz I saw the interaction design opportunity. At this point, it was clear to me that the input of the interactive system would be the neural oscillations because they had a range that I could measure with the OpenBCI EEG Headband.
5.3.1 Interactive System
In the Focus Widget from the OpenBCI GUI, I saw the opportunity to send one signal by the measurement of alpha and beta levels in the brain. This signal is “focused!” which is also fundamental for mindfulness. The OpenBCI GUI is compatible with Arduino IDE, so after I matched the port and the baud rate the communication between the programs was initiated. I added an Arduino Uno and a 24 RGB LED ring to my design as I could control it with the brain oscillations. In other words, the EEG data was the input of the system and the light projected from the LED ring was the output. When I started to think about the output of the
Figure 24 OpenBCI GUI
Figure 27 Focus Widget
Figure 28 Focus Widget
Figure 25 Other visualization of OpenBCI GUI
DESIGN PROCESS
interactive system, the theoretical framework that inspires this project was crucial. To create an artifact that could support mindfulness without disrupting the full focus practice is a challenge. I started by looking at calm technology and slow technology because in these types of technology the interactions happen in the user´s periphery and not on the center of the attention that should be in the meditation practice. An ambient display fits my project perfectly because it can give the information without disrupting mindfulness and can even enhance the practice. After I connected the OpenBCI GUI with Arduino IDE I developed with the most minimalistic interaction, to turn on a LED when the focus level was reached. This information was provided by the EEG headset and analyzed by the software that measures alpha and beta levels to determine if one is focused or not.
5.3.2 Physical form
“Circles, like the soul, are never-ending and turn round and round without a stop.”
– Ralph Emerson
When I started exploring the physical form of my prototype, I looked into the forms that are already used in meditation and why are they so recurrent. In meditations, objects are used as a way to focus the attention on it without thinking on something else. That was the reason why I wanted to design an artifact that was harmonic to look at for long periods of time. In my exploration, I found that the circle is used in different Figure 29 First interaction
meditations as it symbolizes unity, completeness, and harmony. The circle is a perfect form where there is not a beginning or an end. Greeks saw the circle as divinity, symmetry, and balance in nature. Euclid, the Greek mathematician, defined the circle as “a plane figure bounded by one curved line, and such that all straight lines drawn from a certain point within it to the bounding line, are equal. The bounding line is called its circumference and the point, its center” (Euclid, 300 BC). There are some ancient sacred placed that used the circle as it symbol. One example is the monument Stonehenge in England (3000 BC) which is a circle of standing stones.
In Zen Buddhism we find ensō: a hand-drawn circle that
express enlightenment. Drawing ensō is considered a
spiritual practice that should be done once a day. Some of them have an opening in the circle, and others artist prefer to close it fully. Ensō is done in one brushstroke, and once is done, the author cannot change it. The materials are the same as they are in the Japanese calligraphy: a brush, ink, and a thin Japanese paper. Chinese balls, also known as meditation balls, are two small iron balls that can be hold in one hand. By rotating them, one should avoid them to touch each other and try to keep a rhythm. If they touch, the balls produced a soft clink. One should focus on the movement and the sound to guide the breath. The Chinese balls allow focusing more clearly on the meditation and the breath. In mindfulness, there is a tool called the breathing ball or the Hoberman Sphere. It is usually used to teach kids how to keep track of their breathing without losing the Figure 31 Stonehenge
Figure 32 Chinese balls
Figure 33 Ensō
DESIGN PROCESS
29
focus. Kids breathe in for four counts as the ball expands, and later kids breathe out for four counts as the ball contracts. This tool is also used in group games that can facilitate mindfulness. The goal of this tool is to train mindfulness in kids who later can apply it in their lives. As can be seen, circles, spheres, and balls are widely related to meditation and spiritual practices. This fact grounded my idea of designing a round object. A sphere is something that does not have edges; therefore, it is visually soft and harmonic. After deciding that I wanted the form of my design being round, I started exploring different objects that I had at disposition where I could add the LED ring. I explored not only round objects but also any kind of object and materials that could contain and at the same time could let the light go through. I was looking for an object that could relate to meditation practices. In my search, I encounter different size of glass and plastic round jars, candles containers, and different shaped lamps. After exploring almost all the round objects that I had, I decided that I could open one of the lamps and place the LED ring inside of it. The lamp that I selected, was constituted of a white glass sphere and a base. I discarded the base and I started working only with the sphere which had a big opening in the bottom where I managed to put the LED ring but not the Arduino inside. I tested different colors and brightness of the light to find something that could invoke calm and harmony.
Figure 36 Final materials for prototyping
Figure 37 Starting to prototype
Figure 38 Starting to prototype
6 THE FINAL DESIGN
The final design of my interactive system had two parts; the digital part and the physical part.
The digital part of the design was measuring the alpha and beta levels to define if one was focused or not. This was done by the Focus Widget that the OpenBci GUI had. The physical part of the design was constituted by a glass sphere, an Arduino uno, an LED ring, and the OpenBCI headkit that was presented in the methods section. The user interacts with the lamp by changing alpha and beta levels through meditation. When one meditates the alpha brainwaves are more predominant than beta brainwaves and that was translated into a blue light in the lamp. When beta brainwaves are predominant and the user is not in a meditative state of mind, the light was white instead.
6.1 Testing with participants
Four participants took part in this testing, of which two were females and two males. The participants aged between 25-35 years old. All participants were interested in meditation as they stated that they had used meditation apps, or they had participated in guided meditations. However, none of them were practicing any kind of meditations in their daily basis and they still consider themselves as beginners. The experiment was done in my home but in the last iteration I went to my participant’s place as they could not leave the apartment due to the pandemic. Lumina has been designed as a way to explore how interactive technologies can support mindfulness therefore, after answering the MAAS, I asked my participants to meditate. At the end of every session, I conducted a Figure 39 Prototype
Figure 40 Prototype
THE FINAL DESIGN
post-interview (appendix 4.0) about the experience. My first participant was a 32 years man who had practiced meditation during some periods of his life, but at the moment he was not meditating. He stated that he had a stressful life and it was not easy for him to stay focused for a long period of time since his brain starts solving problems.
To start with, P1 answered the MAAS getting 68 points of 90. Further, I set up the headset. Even if the headset was light and manageable, it was uncomfortable due to that the cables felt on to the face, so I attached the cables backward, in a way that the cables were going up to the head and not down to the face. I asked him to meditate, but he was skeptic about the reliability of the prototype, therefore I asked him to solve a Sudoku: a logical game where one needs to fil a grid with numbers from 1 to 9. To solve this game, one needs to be focused because the numbers on the grid can only be used once. I decided to use Sudoku as a way to show that my prototype was measuring neural oscillations which were changing depending on what one was thinking. For the same reason, I had the OpenBCI GUI opened so my participants could see their neurofeedback and consequently could believe that my prototype was working. When P1 was solving Sudoku I asked him to blink three times to prove that he had a change in the neural oscillations that were been read by the system. After showing the reliability of the prototype with the Sudoku book, I asked P1 to meditate. However, he felt a little bit lost when I gave him the instruction and I did not want to use a guided meditation, because the idea was that participants focused on the lamp and not on the voice. Instead, for the second iteration I used meditation music to have a relaxed and meditative
atmosphere as a starting point of the experience. As the neural oscillations of my participant were changing constantly, the light was also changing, and even if the colors that I selected for the first iteration were calm such as, blue and white, the change was abrupt, and it felt like a blink in the light. P1 was amazed by the technical aspects of the prototype “after I blinked, I saw the changes in my brainwaves and only then I started believing” he confessed.
My second participant was a 28 years old woman who works in a supermarket. She stated that she is in contact with a large variety of people every day at work, and when she arrives home, she needs a few minutes for herself to recover before she can start doing something else. She had attended a few guided meditation sessions in the past, and she would like to learn more about meditation practices.
When P2 was answering the MAAS she started to reflect on her states of mind, and how off she was in relation to the things that happened during a day. She scored 67 points of 90 total. This time, I set the experiment in a different way, and I improved some conditions some so that the experiment could go better. For example, this time she was not facing the screen that is showing the neurofeedback, but she could look at it if she wanted. In addition, I played some relaxation music that helped to induce meditation. The headband was still uncomfortable to wear due to the short length of the cables, but I managed to place it on a close surface near to her head. The only problem was that she could not move because otherwise, she would drag the biosensor board with her. This factor made her feel extra carefully and a bit stressed as she expressed. This time I Figure 43 Participant interacting with Lumina
THE FINAL DESIGN
asked her to meditate for ten minutes. She sat and started looking at the lamp, after three minutes the light started to be brighter pointing out that she was reaching the state for meditation. After five minutes, she closed her eyes but she half-opened to check on the light. At the end of the meditation part of this session, she wanted to continue meditating as she was feeling for it. In the post-interview P2 said “the music was a bit annoying because it takes some time to get used to these sounds, it would be better to start the music when the participant arrives so there is a time to get used to it”. About the overall experience of using Lumina, she expressed that she felt really calm and relaxed, and that it helped to meditate.
My third participant was a 25 years old woman who had been using meditations apps a few years ago. She only used these apps while she suffered from stress, but she confessed that the effects that she got from them were satisfactory, so she recommends meditation practices to everybody who is going through a difficult time in their lives. She scored 45 points in the MAAS, which is half of the points. This time, the LED ring was placed inside a smaller white glass sphere that looked similar to the other one that was used before. I did this to see if my participants would react differently by having the lamp in their hands during the testing. I could not place the cables backward as they were tickling my participant, so I had to place the cables and the biosensor board on the front. During the testing session, she closed her eyes. She turn on the light after one minute and she could maintain the light in the same brightness for a longer period of time than the others. When she turned on the Figure 44 Participant interacting with Lumina
light, she felt released because she was able to full fill the task. She stated that she would not care if she felt better or not, but to turn on the light was her goal. “The best of
Lumina was the rewarding feeling, but if it did not work, I would be pissed off” she said in the post-interview. About
the design of the light, she appreciated the brightness changes and she noticed how the LED was working. As a part of the design, the 24 RGB LED ring was turning on one LED at the time, creating this hypnotic sequence that stopped moving when the meditation level was reached. When she was focused, the 24 LED lighted up altogether. She said that when she saw the LEDs working individually, turning on one LED at the time, she read this information as an indication that she was not focused as she was “jumping” between thoughts.
About having Lumina in the hands, she said that her hands got sweaty as she was nervous about dropping the ball as it could slide from her hands. She was also nervous about the technical pieces as they were hanging from her head, therefore, she did not move during the whole testing. She stated that she would prefer to test the prototype without knowing how it works because it put pressure on her, but for ethical reasons this was not possible.” Pressure, both, cool if you
succeed, but there is a lot of press if you do not succeed”. She added that she would feel the pressure
even if she is alone with Lumina.
She explained that using Lumina for a longer period of time can give satisfaction as one can feel that it is doing something right. “Look! I have made this lamp to turn on
with my brain” she said and she continued to explain
that this could be a second satisfaction as she said that meditate would give her a satisfaction moment as she is doing something for herself, but to have the light turned
THE FINAL DESIGN
on would be the second satisfaction. She stated that this double satisfaction could make people meditate more because of this rewarding feeling, but that for someone who the light did not work they might not want to meditate again. She also said that the headband was uncomfortable to wear and the only thing that she wanted to change of the prototype was the cables that were on her face.
My fourth participant was 34 years old man who suffers from stress and depression. He had used meditations apps for sleeping as he had suffered from insomnia. He answered the MAAS fast getting 80 points of 90. Further, he closed the eyes firmly and started meditating. On the software I could see that beta waves were predominant, but alpha did not increase. His mind was aroused, and this meant that the meditation level was not reached and, consequently, the light did not turn on. After 8 minutes he opened his eyes and asked ”Did I turn on the light or not?” really nervous. He was so determined that he would turn on the light that it was not a problem for him to have the cables and the biosensor board on the front. When he realized that the light did not have any change while he was testing, he was disappointed with his own performance. He stated that he felt insecure about his mental control and maybe that could be the reason why he felt anxious and stressed during the testing. He expressed that he would like to try this prototype by himself for a few days to see if his mind can get calm
7 RESULTS
The following table summarizes the results of my
participants while testing Lumina. The whole experiment took around ten minutes where I could see how my participants interacted with the prototype. I measured the time that it took for each participant to turn on the light and the duration of the light. I also registered if they had open or closed eyes during the experiment. The MAAS questionnaire had a maximal score of 90 points. Scored MAAS Time to turn on the light Duration of the light Eyes
P1 68 points 6 minutes 45 seconds Eyes open
P2 67 points 3 minutes 4 minutes Eyes open and sometimes closed P3 45 points 1 minute 6 minutes Eyes closed but
with a small gap
DISCUSSION
8 DISCUSSION
After testing my prototype, I found that there was not a correlation between the MAAS questionnaire and the time that they could have the light on or keep the same brightness as it was in the second iteration. This is grounded in the fact that the person that obtained more points, was the one that could not keep his mind calm. And that P3 who was the one that could maintain the brightness of the light for a longer period of time scored only the half of the points. It is important to say that the questionnaire was introduced as a way to asses a core characteristic of mindfulness in my participants. Moreover, the majority of the participants closed their eyes and I found that closing the eyes was not a problem as my participant stated that the light was bright enough to see it with the eyes relaxed as the eyes slightly open a little bit let in see-through. P2 used the lamp to check on her mental state and then she closed her eyes. Further, half of my participants felt pressure when testing the prototype. P3 said that when I explain her more about the prototype, she felt pressured and a bit embarrassed because she was not sure if she would be able to turn the light or not.
About the physical form of the prototype, all participants found that the headband was uncomfortable to wear. In contrast, the ear clip was comfortable, and some participants even forgot that they had it on. The glass sphere worked well for them as it looked as a finished product therefore, they did not have any comments about it. About the color of the light that I selected, they
Due to BCIs not being common or familiar to people I had to find ways to show the reliability of the system and that my prototype was working. To show this I had the OpenBCI GUI open so my participants could observe their neural feedback. However, in my first test, I had to almost convince my participant about the reliability of the system. I did this by explaining all the components, the theory behind, and by letting him observe the neural changes that his brain experienced by solving the Sudoku book that I gave him. The book worked well as a way to show that the information that was streamed was related to my participant’s brain and after having that clear I could test the prototype with my participant.
I also noticed that BCIs can be sensitive for some people as one is interacting with the brain there is pressure in the performance as “Am I smart enough?”. I was not aware of the emotions that my prototype could produce to participants and it would be interesting to know if they would feel the same way or not by experiencing Lumina without me being there.
The biggest challenge of this project was to design for mindfulness without counteracting the practice. This dilemma was not only present in the output of the prototype but also in the overall idea of this project. Mindfulness is a non-judgmental practice and providing a device that measures if the level of concentration is achieved or not could lead into judgmental thoughts. However, it is important to highlight that the judging aspect is a problem that is already present in meditation practices. To tackle this, Lumina was planned to be used individually as a self-awareness tool that mindfulness beginners could use to get started with this type of meditation. The purpose of Lumina was to inform in a
DISCUSSION
subtle way, and in a mindfulness practice, one should just observe this feedback without judging. However, half of the participants felt pressure and they judged their own performances while interacting with the prototype. They felt pressure about “failing” and not getting the reward. To avoid that, I tried to decrease the rewarding feeling because this feeling is contrary to mindfulness practices. I did this by changing the behavior of the light. If the light would be off but when one achieves mindfulness it turns on could be considered as an achievement and the user could be more interested in turn on the light, having the light as a reward, than in the meditation, as P3 experienced. However, a change in the intensity or in the color could give less of this feeling.
Another challenging situation was during the testing where three important activities were happening simultaneously. Firstly, I had to make sure that the system was working properly, that means that the serial port was opened correctly, and Ganglion and Arduino were communicating. Further, I had to set the headband and make sure that it was positioned right. The electrodes were quite sensitive and if they were not positioned in the right way measuring F7, AF7, Fp1, Fpz, Fp2, AF8, and F8, the alpha, beta, gamma, and theta levels were not being measured correctly as in the software they were reaching maximum levels on the scale. In addition, the cables that connected the biosensor board with the electrodes were quite short, and when I tried to make them longer, I got interference in the system; in other words, the board could not read the data that was being sent by my long cables. For that reason, I had to continue with the short cables for my testing. Secondly, I had to video-record the experiment for registration with
he different Light settings that were on the front of the camera. Thirdly, I had to be calm to facilitate mindfulness for the participants. To summarize, I think that having at least two persons with different roles, such as the technician and the facilitator, would be optimal for any project that involves an important technical part. Finally, the biggest contribution of this project to the field of interaction design was the exploration of new ways of interaction that involve other parts of our bodies or even minds. We are used to interacting with our hands; to touch something and then get feedback. However, when there is not a button to turn on the light people get curious about of the project and how it works. We are not used to interacting with an artifact through our neural oscillations and it is a contribution to develop interactive systems using BCIs.
CONCLUSION
9 CONCLUSION
After doing this research I found that mindfulness is a full focus practice and therefore I measured the neural oscillations to determine if one is focused or not. This was done by frontal cortex measurement F7, AF7, Fp1, Fpz, Fp2, AF8, F8 provided by an EEG procedure.
Coming back to my primary research question “how can we design interactive technology that can support mindfulness” I would say by designing something that would require a small portion of the user’s attention so there is space for the mindfulness practice. Besides, mindfulness is a mental practice, therefore it could be good to design an interactive system that has an EEG input, so there is information about the mental state of the user. One of the problems that beginners encounter is that they fall asleep during the practice, therefore, an ambient display that could make them come back to the experience could be optimal to solve this problem.
10 FUTURE WORK
I would like to develop this project further after the pandemic is over. The interactive system was working well so far so I would like to work more on the physical form of Lumina. For that, I would like to 3D print this device as a kit. I would like to 3D print Lumina as a round case that is divided in two parts. In the upper part will be the LED ring and the base would be hollow. This base would contain the headset, and after taking it from the inside one can close Lumina by putting these two parts together. If I get to test this prototype again, I will start with the light on because I do not want to create the polarity feeling of right/wrong or on/off.
In addition, meditation is a personal practice and I would like to give it to new participants who could test the prototype by themselves for a few days. It would be interesting to see how meditation practices can be supported by Lumina in a longer period of time, and to see if my presence had any impact in the experience.
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11. 1 Figure page
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12 APPENDIX Appendix 1.0
APPENDIX Appendix 2.0
Consent form
Testing procedure of an ambient display for mindfulness practice
You are invited to test Leyla Allendes´ prototype for mindfulness practices. The work has been conducted within the 1st year Master in Interaction Design at the University of Malmö. You will be asked to provide biometric data to test the prototype. The testing will be done by an
electroencephalogram (EEG) procedure, and the data generated will be processed only during the time of the testing after which the information will be deleted. Your participation is voluntary, and you can withdraw at any time.
In addition to the biometric data, the student would like to a) record and report general
demographical data like age and gender, b) video record the testing procedure and c) audio record an interview after the end of the testing procedure.
You can find out what has been registered about you or have feedback on the processing or information collected by contacting Leyla Allendes or the university's Data Protection Officer at dataskyddsombud@mau.se. Complaints that cannot be resolved with Malmö University may be submitted to the responsible regulatory authority.
By signing this consent form, you acknowledge and understand these materials about or of you are going to be used for a student project and will be published in a thesis.
……… Signature
