Mindfulness-based Embodied Tangible Interactions for Stroke Rehabilitation at Home

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Current approaches to designing technologies for stroke rehabilitation at home show great promise using either mindfulness-based interventions or embodied tangible interactions. However, there is an untapped potential in integrating these approaches and a lack of understanding of how to embody aspects of mindfulness in tangible interactions for stroke rehabilitation. We report the first explicit effort to explore this dimension by conducting semi-structured interviews and co-design sessions involving four physiotherapists and four mindfulness experts. The major themes ‘Awareness – The essence of mindfulness’ and ‘Tactile sensations – A pathway to mindfulness’ point us towards new ways to embody mindfulness in tangible interactions to address stroke rehabilitation challenges. This work introduces a novel approach to designing technology called ‘Mindfulness-based Embodied Tangible Interactions’ (MBETI). We present five key design principles such as 'Design to support mindful awareness’ and ‘Design for Comfort’ while discussing the future research opportunities of assistive technologies for stroke rehabilitation.