MTBalance

Mountain Biking (MTB) is an increasingly popular outdoors activity which offers a unqiue connection to nature along with the health benefits of cardiovascular exercise. Yet, complex MTB technique is an entry barrier that often prevent novices from enjoying the sport. Developing interactive systems, which can support developing MTB proficiency can augment the outdoor experience and make the sport available to a larger group of users. To that end, we designed, implemented and evaluate MTBalance - a system which provides body posture feedback for beginner mountain bikers. Based on inertial tracking, MTBalance informs the user about how to correct their posture to improve MTB performance. We conducted a study in which we compared different feedback modalities for MTBalance. We observed that the system increased perceived balance awareness. Our work provides insights for designing body awareness systems for outdoor sports.

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Biosensing and Actuation—Platforms Coupling Body Input-Output Modalities for Affective Technologies

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s20215968 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (21) ◽

pp. 5968

Author(s):

Miquel Alfaras ◽

William Primett ◽

Muhammad Umair ◽

Charles Windlin ◽

Pavel Karpashevich ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Low Cost ◽

Body Awareness ◽

Health Condition ◽

The Body ◽

First Person ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Affective Experience ◽

Health Domains ◽

The Creation ◽

Feedback Modalities

Research in the use of ubiquitous technologies, tracking systems and wearables within mental health domains is on the rise. In recent years, affective technologies have gained traction and garnered the interest of interdisciplinary fields as the research on such technologies matured. However, while the role of movement and bodily experience to affective experience is well-established, how to best address movement and engagement beyond measuring cues and signals in technology-driven interactions has been unclear. In a joint industry-academia effort, we aim to remodel how affective technologies can help address body and emotional self-awareness. We present an overview of biosignals that have become standard in low-cost physiological monitoring and show how these can be matched with methods and engagements used by interaction designers skilled in designing for bodily engagement and aesthetic experiences. Taking both strands of work together offers unprecedented design opportunities that inspire further research. Through first-person soma design, an approach that draws upon the designer’s felt experience and puts the sentient body at the forefront, we outline a comprehensive work for the creation of novel interactions in the form of couplings that combine biosensing and body feedback modalities of relevance to affective health. These couplings lie within the creation of design toolkits that have the potential to render rich embodied interactions to the designer/user. As a result we introduce the concept of “orchestration”. By orchestration, we refer to the design of the overall interaction: coupling sensors to actuation of relevance to the affective experience; initiating and closing the interaction; habituating; helping improve on the users’ body awareness and engagement with emotional experiences; soothing, calming, or energising, depending on the affective health condition and the intentions of the designer. Through the creation of a range of prototypes and couplings we elicited requirements on broader orchestration mechanisms. First-person soma design lets researchers look afresh at biosignals that, when experienced through the body, are called to reshape affective technologies with novel ways to interpret biodata, feel it, understand it and reflect upon our bodies.

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Running: A way to increase body awareness in secondary school physical education

European Physical Education Review ◽

10.1177/1356336x18814035 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 3-21

Author(s):

Heléne Bergentoft

Keyword(s):

Physical Education ◽

Secondary School ◽

Secondary Schools ◽

Body Awareness ◽

Body Posture ◽

Variation Theory ◽

Teaching Techniques ◽

Space And Time ◽

Critical Aspects

Research suggests that young people’s understanding of how their bodies move in space and time is deteriorating. The aim of this study was to examine how students learn to analyse sensations and feelings while running. In total, 94 students aged 16–19 years and seven physical education (PE) teachers from two different secondary schools participated in the study. Five different PE lessons were designed, conducted and analysed based on the tenets of variation theory. Two questions guided the investigation: (a) What aspects of the running movement do students discern as critical for increased awareness of body posture in running? (b) In what way do lesson designs and teaching techniques affect students’ identification of critical aspects of body posture in running? The paper provides examples of how embodied exploration of body awareness can be used as an educational means to enhance movement capabilities. Two themes are identified and described: tentative critical aspects of body posture for running, and differences in students’ ways of developing movement capability. The paper concludes with a summary of the main results along with reflections on issues that require further attention.

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Trail Use, Motivations, and Environmental Attitudes of 3780 European Mountain Bikers: What Is Sustainable?

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182412971 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (24) ◽

pp. 12971

Author(s):

Tom Campbell ◽

Lewis Kirkwood ◽

Graeme McLean ◽

Mark Torsius ◽

Geraint Florida-James

Keyword(s):

Natural Environment ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Direct Action ◽

Mountain Biking ◽

Connection To Nature ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Trail Use ◽

Survey Results ◽

European Mountain

Background: The extent to which mountain biking impacts upon the environment is largely determined by rider behaviours. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how mountain bikers interact with the natural environment and explore their attitudes towards sustainability. Methods: 3780 European mountain bikers completed an online cross-sectional survey. Results: Connection to nature was an important source of motivation and the use of mountain bike trails has increased rider’s appreciation of and willingness to protect nature, with a large majority having taken direct action to do so. Mountain bikers are prepared to contribute towards trail maintenance through the provision of labour or financially. Although most mountain bikers make use of wet trails and illegal trails, incidence of conflict is relatively low. A range of characteristics were identified as being fundamental elements of sustainable trails, both in relation to the sustainability of the trail itself and in terms of wider environmental sustainability. Conclusions: European mountain bikers care about the sustainability of the natural environment. Self-reported attitudes and behaviours suggest a willingness to reduce environmental impact and actively protect nature.

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A comparison design study of feedback modalities to support deep breathing whilst performing work tasks

Work ◽

10.3233/wor-213448 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

Karen Anne Cochrane ◽

Lian Loke ◽

Naseem Ahmadpour ◽

Thecla Schiphorst ◽

Andrew Campbell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sensory Modality ◽

Interactive Systems ◽

Physiological Data ◽

Deep Breathing ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Breathing Exercises ◽

Work Tasks ◽

Feedback Modalities ◽

Sound Feedback

BACKGROUND: Deep breathing exercises are known to help decrease stress. Wearable and ambient computing can help initiate and support deep breathing exercises. Most studies have focused on a single sensory modality for providing feedback on the quality of breathing and other physiological data. OBJECTIVE: Our research compares different feedback modalities on an individual’s experience and ability to perform breath-based techniques at work. METHODS: We designed three different interactive prototypes that used light, vibration and sound feedback modalities. We tested each prototype with 19 participants whilst they were performing typical work tasks in a naturalistic setting, followed by semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: We found that sound was the most successful feedback for the majority of participants, followed by vibration and ambient light. We developed an analytic tool, the Extended Cycle of Awareness, to facilitate understanding of the patterns of awareness and the flow of experience generated by participant interaction with prototype systems that provide feedback on the quality of breathing. Participants followed one of three different types of patterns: (1) ignoring the feedback; (2) not understanding the feedback and being overwhelmed by it; (3) successfully using the feedback to initiate deep breathing and reflect on the change in the quality of breathing. CONCLUSIONS: We offer a set of design recommendations for crafting interactive systems to support deep breathing at work, including personalization, designing for the cyclical process of attention and awareness, and designing for reflective practice.

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