In this explorative study, we investigated how a zoomorphic dog-like robot could encourage users to engage in active behavior through nudges with different levels of intrusiveness. We examined three hypotheses on the effectiveness of different intensity levels, the impact of zoomorphic design on emotional responses, and the influence of prior dog experience on interactions. Using a within-subject approach with 34 participants, we found that low-intensity nudges were most sufficient at encouraging active behavior, contradicting our first hypothesis. Participants generally responded positively to the zoomorphic design, supporting our second hypothesis. Our third hypothesis was approved as participants with prior dog experience perceived the robot as less intrusive and reported higher user experience. This finding was complemented by these specific users putting a powerful mental model of a real dog directly on our robot dog, sometimes even resulting in projecting attributes like "thirst" or other desires to the robot. We call this new finding "Fluffy Tightrope" - the balancing act between realism and abstraction in designing a zoomorphic robot, so that users with animal experience respond to nudges, but do not project too strong wishes and desires onto the robot resulting in misinterpretations.

While personal trackers can collect a vast amount of information about their users, the representation of such data has remained unchanged, with bar charts being the most dominant. However, to build systems that facilitate reflection and support well-being, it is crucial to explore alternative ways of representation. Thus, we designed VeatherReflect, a VR application that uses weather metaphors to illustrate tracker stress scores, aiming to encourage users to reflect on their stress data. In a pre-study, we mapped stress scores to weather states. We then compared VeatherReflect with a standard visualisation of stress data presented in VR. VeatherReflect increased participant engagement with personal data and stress awareness. Participants reported reflective insights for stress-reducing behaviour. We contribute findings on how virtual weather as a metaphor for stress can support reflection. We discuss design recommendations for VR applications aiming to facilitate a deeper understanding of complex personal data through engaging qualitative experiences.

Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly being used to promote mindfulness practice. However, the impact of virtual and multimodal interactive spaces on mindfulness practice and presence is still underexplored. To address this gap, we conducted a mixed-method user study (N=12). We explored the impact of various multimodal feedback, in particular tactile feedback (passive haptic feedback by artificial grass) and auditory feedback (footstep sound) at feet level on both mindfulness and presence. We conducted semi-structured interviews and collected quantitative data through three validated questionnaires (SMS, IPQ, WSPQ). We found a significant effect of passive haptic feedback on presence and mindfulness. Tactile feedback improves the focus on the self, facilitates spatial presence and increases involvement. Auditory feedback did not significantly affect presence or mindfulness. While ambient sound was perceived as beneficial for presence, footstep sound subjectively disrupted both presence and mindfulness. Based on our results, we derive design recommendations for multimodal VR applications supporting mindfulness practice.