GLS Conference

In the HCI field, interest in technology to support meditation has also grown significantly, as evidenced by steady increases in research in the topic over the past decade. Researchers have experimented with tracking and visualizing EEG signals that turn invisible aspects of meditative states into shared, visible displays. Among technical approaches to supporting EEG-based meditation, Augmented Reality (AR) offers new forms of social interaction that not only enables emotional awareness, but also promotes connectedness and empathy with others who meditate alongside. In this work, we present Mindful Garden, a system that extends the Snap HCI team’s Grateful Garden group meditation lens for supporting reflection on biosignals in a mindfulness experience where two people are physically co-located. The Mindful Garden captured a person’s EEG data in the Muse 2 headband, and represented the data as flowers in a shared AR environment in the Snap Spectacles. To overcome the technical limitation, we contribute a pipeline for data streaming from the Muse2 to the Snap Spectacles. The pilot interview with 8 participants sparked questions around people’s perceptions of what mindfulness means as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using technology to augment the practice of mindfulness in a social setting. We point to future opportunities for revised co-located design and integrating with learning from meditation experts' experience.