Developing fine motor skills requires complex coordination between physical and mental processes, which can be challenging for novices as they manage multiple sensory inputs while executing precise movements. To address this, we developed a proof-of-concept hybrid wearable system that guides mindful breathing through different combinations of AR feedback and air-induced haptic cues. Fifteen participants took part in a mixed-method exploratory study involving paper-based precision tasks inspired by welding. The outcomes indicate that the breathing guide with haptic cues can positively influence task performance and highlight a connection among improved performance, enhanced body awareness, and attention regulation with mindfulness exercises. While initial findings are promising, larger validation studies are needed. This study examines the potential for integrating mindfulness into fine motor skill development through multimodal interaction, suggesting applicability in welding and other skills as a complement to traditional training.

Metal welding is a craft manufacturing skill that can be unusually difficult to externalize and represent to novices. Building competency requires an apprentice to iteratively practice embodied skills and sensitize themselves to a sensorially complex practice. To explore these challenges, we organized a series of co-design workshops with a youth program in welding and fabrication. Working with eight instructors and four students, we identified opportunities for mixed reality, sensing, and tinyML processes to augment welding training and practice. This resulted in an extended reality (XR) welding helmet and torch that enhances the embodied learning of welding in three key ways: biometric sensing enhances mindfulness and stress management in sensorially challenging environments; acoustic sensing focuses learner attention on non-visual cues of weld performance; and combined motion-sensing and visual XR feedback helps improve proprioceptive and embodied learning. These features are assessed and we offer design implications for augmenting novice learning of craft-practice with XR approaches.

While it seems counterintuitive to think of degradation within an operating device as beneficial, one may argue that when rationally designed, the controlled breakdown of materials— physical, chemical, or biological—can be harnessed for specific functions. To apply this principle to the design of morphing devices, we introduce the concept of "Degrade to Function" (DtF). This concept aims to create eco-friendly and self-contained morphing devices that operate through a sequence of environmentally-triggered degradations. We explore its design considerations and implementation techniques by identifying environmental conditions and degradation types that can be exploited, evaluating potential materials capable of controlled degradation, suggesting designs for structures that can leverage degradation to achieve various transformations and functions, and developing sequential control approaches that integrate degradation triggers. To demonstrate the viability and versatility of this design strategy, we showcase several application examples across a range of environment conditions.

While the majority of pneumatic interfaces are powered and controlled by traditional electric pumps and valves, alternative sustainable energy-harnessing technology has been attracting attention. This paper presents a novel solution to this challenge with the development of the Sustainflatable system, a self-sustaining pneumatic system that can harvest renewable energy sources such as wind, water flow, moisture, and sunlight, convert the energy into compressed air, and store it for later use in a programmable and intelligent way. The system is completely electronic-free, incorporating customized energy harvesting pumps, storage units with variable volume-pressure characteristics, and tailored valves that operate autonomously. Additionally, the paper provides a design tool to guide the development of the system and includes several environmental applications to showcase its capabilities.