Evaluating In-Car Movements in the Design of Mindful Commute Interventions: Exploratory Study

Abstract

BackgroundThe daily commute could be a right moment to teach drivers to use movement or breath towards improving their mental health. Long commutes, the relevance of transitioning from home to work, and vice versa and the privacy of commuting by car make the commute an ideal scenario and time to perform mindful exercises safely. Whereas driving safety is paramount, mindful exercises might help commuters decrease their daily stress while staying alert. Increasing vehicle automation may present new opportunities but also new challenges.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the design space for movement-based mindful interventions for commuters. We used qualitative analysis of simulated driving experiences in combination with simple movements to obtain key design insights.MethodsWe performed a semistructured viability assessment in 2 parts. First, a think-aloud technique was used to obtain information about a driving task. Drivers (N=12) were given simple instructions to complete movements (configural or breath-based) while engaged in either simple (highway) or complex (city) simulated urban driving tasks using autonomous and manual driving modes. Then, we performed a matching exercise where participants could experience vibrotactile patterns from the back of the car seat and map them to the prior movements.ResultsWe report a summary of individual perceptions concerning different movements and vibrotactile patterns. Beside describing situations within a drive when it may be more likely to perform movement-based interventions, we also describe movements that may interfere with driving and those that may complement it well. Furthermore, we identify movements that could be conducive to a more relaxing commute and describe vibrotactile patterns that could guide such movements and exercises. We discuss implications for design such as the influence of driving modality on the adoption of movement, need for personal customization, the influence that social perception has on participants, and the potential role of prior awareness of mindful techniques in the adoption of new movement-based interventions.ConclusionsThis exploratory study provides insights into which types of movements could be better suited to design mindful interventions to reduce stress for commuters, when to encourage such movements, and how best to guide them using noninvasive haptic stimuli embedded in the car seat.

Breath Booster!

“…Motivated by the open challenge of developing in-car interventions that avoid existing strategies' limitations (e.g., negative short-term side effects, unsafe outcomes from repeated or longterm use, and unclear overall efficacy), we explore an approach involving fast-paced breathing techniques. We were in part inspired by our recent work on passively sensing autonomic arousal in the car [26], and delivering haptic slow breathing guidance during driving [25,27]; those breathing interventions displayed high user receptivity as well as efficacy in terms of producing significant changes in arousal-related physiological measures, without compromising safety.…”

“…To deliver the intervention, we made use of a haptic vibrotactile seat validated in prior work for its ability to guide breathing patterns [25,27]. The seat uses forty one 2-3.6 V linear resonant actuator vibration motors that cover a 20x26 inch grid and can produce a variety of different haptic stimulation patterns.…”

“…The seat uses forty one 2-3.6 V linear resonant actuator vibration motors that cover a 20x26 inch grid and can produce a variety of different haptic stimulation patterns. We chose a simple pattern that swipes up and down the user's whole back, as participants in prior work found this pattern to be the most acceptable for guiding breathing [25]. The system's control interface allows for the real-time adaptation of the swiping speed to achieve various breathing paces.…”

“…-P4). An evident next step is therefore to integrate the fast breathing approach of this study with the slow breathing in-car interventions validated in prior work by Paredes, et al [25,27].…”

Calm Commute

“…The commute is therefore an opportune time for an intervention to reduce the stress accumulated throughout the day. As a result, there have been a number of recent proposals aiming to re-purpose the commute and transform it into time for managing stress by leveraging biofeedback [9], movement [21], and guided breathing [3,23].…”