In an era where technology pervades every aspect of our daily lives, including dining, we grapple with the challenge of harmonizing its immersive nature with the ethos of mindful eating. Despite some strides in designing technologies to support mindful eating, existing efforts remain fragmented and lack a comprehensive grasp of the intricate factors essential for cultivating such dining experiences. This pictorial introduces MindEat! an inventive design framework tailored for designers embarking on the development of technologies that support mindful eating experiences. Similar to the layered composition of a culinary sandwich, each component of this framework encompasses a distinct aspect of mindful eating, deserving careful consideration throughout the design process. By emphasizing metaphorical engagement with mindful eating principles, and practical application in the design process, this framework aims to contribute to the creation of enjoyable health-promoting solutions that resonate with the realities of screen-centric dining cultures.

Regular microbreaks from work positively contribute to one’s well-being, performance, and recovery, yet integrating them into work routine can be challenging. In response, we present Zenscape, a novel tangible system that encourages regular microbreaks through a subtle stirring water action and sound. Zenscape aims to improve the quality of the microbreaks by inviting user participation in creative micro activities that are inspired from Zen Garden philosophy. We conducted field deployments of Zenscape with seven participants who interacted with the system daily for at least 2 weeks. The study revealed that the physicality of the system brought discipline to participants’ work routine and interacting with the Zen Garden made microbreaks refreshing. Participants took frequent breaks with Zenscape, found themselves more productive and less tired at the end of the day. Based on study insights, we present three design considerations to guide the design of the future technologies for supporting regular microbreaks.

This pictorial illustrates the design and making of a carefully crafted multi-sensory spice kit, Stardust, to encourage and nurture self-care in everyday practice. Stardust contains a set of dotted pattern cards and a secret set of 9 spices. The user engages with the kit by poking holes in the pattern card to reveal a unique art and a number that guides the user to a secret spice from the box. The user then places the poked pattern card over their favorite hot coffee or tea, and gently sprinkles the secret spice over it, thus serendipitously finds the spice and the punched pattern. The user can then enjoy their coffee featuring a visually appealing and aromatic latte art. We present a descriptive account on how we brought Stardust into being and contribute ideas for integrating art based multisensory experiences in mundane activities.

This research aims to support positive wellbeing by encouraging people to take regular microbreaks from continuous on-screen work. We present Zenscape, an innovative tangible system that offers subtle reminders to engage in non-work related creative micro activities, through the stirring water action and sound. Zenscape integrates the ideologies of the Zen garden philosophy in its design and features a mini Zen garden consisting of sand and stones, and a water cup with a stirrer, all offering multiple micro activities for the user to get an escape from their work. Unlike time management apps, we do not target productivity, but rather focus on making the most of the microbreaks. We present a descriptive account of how we brought Zenscape into being through a conceptual framing of Diversion, Destination, Play and Return. We hope that our design reflections will inspire future systems on microbreaks beyond reminder and notification systems.

In this pictorial, we describe the design and making of GustaCine, an engaging crossmodal cinematic experience that allows the viewer to experience and savor cinematic moments through the gustatory pleasures of the different flavored popcorn. Our aim behind creating GustaCine is to explore possibilities in designing food experiences that 'move' in parallel with the moving picture. We articulate our making process enumerating the challenges in creating a gustatory experience and undertaken strategies to resolve them. Ultimately, we aim to inspire and guide future research on gustatory cinematic experiences.

In this pictorial, we unfold and reflect on the design process behind the creation of a research product - SWAN. SWAN is an augmented spoon that encourages people to pay more attention to their food and urges them to eat mindfully. With SWAN, our aim is to address the increasing tensions between the lucrative appeal of screen-based media and ideologies of mindful eating. We present a descriptive account on how we brought SWAN into being. In attending to key design decisions across our design process, we unveil ideas and challenges in creating a domestic research product to support everyday mindful eating.

The rapid growth of peri-urbanization has contributed to an increase in road traffic near wildlife, contributing to collisions, injuries and potential deaths of wildlife as well as commuters. This is a significant problem for both animal welfare as well as human roadside safety and limited work has been done to tackle this problem using technology. ROOD is an innovative roadkill alert system, which aims to mitigate the wild animal-vehicle collision by alerting drivers of high-risk areas well in advance. (see Figure 1) This pictorial describes the design and the making of ROOD. We illustrate the challenges encountered in our design process and how they informed our design decisions. Ultimately, our aim is to contribute to safe co-habitation of wildlife.