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Sonic Cradle is a human–computer interaction paradigm designed to foster meditative attentional patterns. A user׳s body is suspended comfortably in a completely dark sound chamber while the interaction paradigm subtly encourages them to focus on their breathing to summon and progressively shape an abstract immersive sound experience. Basic interpretive qualitative methods with a purposive sample of 39 participants were used to systematically analyze interview data after a 15-min experience of the system. Results suggest that this persuasive medium can pleasantly encourage an experience comparable to mindfulness by consistently inducing a calm mental clarity and loss of intention. Surprisingly, participants also reported perceptual illusions, feelings of floating, and emotional responses. Mounting evidence implies mindfulness meditation as an effective practice for self-regulation; this study represents a first step toward realizing technology׳s potential to increase wellbeing by introducing people to this psychologically beneficial contemplative practice.

“I cease thinking any thoughts about sources and give myself over to hearing. It is very much a bathing in sound, a sensuous luxuriating in pure sound and the spaces between them, in layer upon layer of sounds. Now they are simply what they are, no longer identified, no longer listened for in a straining, reaching sort of way.” – Kabat-Zinn (2005) For decades, the persuasive power of technology has been exploited for sales and corporate marketing. Recently, we have seen a new crop of persuasive technologies which aim to support their users, helping them exercise, eat healthy, take breaks, quit smoking and more (Chi et al., and IJsselsteijn et al.,). While these persuasive tools join a large family of healthcare technologies designed primarily to prevent and treat physiological problems, there are relatively fewer systems specifically designed to provide psychological support. Such technologies would not only be critical to help those suffering from mental disorders (prevalence has been observed to be as high as 30% in the United States, with other countries approaching this number; Bijl et al., 2003 and Kessler et al., 2005), but also to help anyone identify and self-regulate unhealthy excesses in life (a key virtue in positive psychology; Peterson and Seligman, 2004). BJ Fogg describes “computers as persuasive media” (juxtaposing them with “computers as persuasive tools” and “computers as social actors”) as systems which provide “a compelling experience that will persuade people to change their attitudes or behaviours” (Fogg, 2003). This is a powerful idea for psychological health and wellbeing, an area where patients suffering from problems like depression, anxiety, and chronic pain need solutions which can fuel lasting changes. If a persuasive medium could offer a compelling experience which influences people׳s general outlook, it could potentially trigger long-term changes in behaviour and routine toward a healthier lifestyle. Since a growing body of evidence suggests that the practices related to mindfulness meditation can have profound effects on stress and psychological problems (Baer, 2003, Bohlmeijer et al., 2010, Fjorback et al., 2011 and Kabat-Zinn, 2003), persuasive media for the adoption of contemplative practices have the potential to impact wellbeing. We have previously published the underlying theory and iterative design process of the Sonic Cradle concept ( Vidyarthi et al., 2012). To summarize, the system was designed to experientially motivate and teach mindfulness meditation, a practice known to be effective for stress reduction. The hope was for Sonic Cradle to be a persuasive medium which catalyzes interest and engagement with this vital contemplative practice. In the present article, we will start with a brief recap on theoretical foundations for our work. Next, we will discuss the Sonic Cradle concept with specifics about its intention to promote patterns of awareness and attention characteristic of mindfulness meditation. This will set the stage for a comprehensive investigation of whether subjective experiences in Sonic Cradle align with contemporary literature on mindfulness meditation. We will conclude by discussing future directions for persuasive media aimed at wellbeing with emphasis on orienting this new research agenda towards a positive influence in people׳s lives.

As a persuasive medium, Sonic Cradle was designed to provide an experience which introduces mindfulness meditation to non-practitioners. In the present study, we adapted basic interpretive qualitative methods and purposive participant sampling as an early investigation into the potential of this new application area for persuasive media. Instead of relying solely on an open-ended subjective presentation of findings, strict criteria systematically ensured that our findings and conclusions represent a strong consensus between participants as independently judged by 3 independent data coders. 6.1. A mediated experience comparable to mindfulness Sonic Cradle is a design artifact where user experience is not some secondary attribute to a main task, but instead it is the primary goal. The main contribution of this paper is evidence that inducing experiences comparable to mindfulness meditation is not only possible, but a realistic goal for stress management technology. Systematic analysis of interviews conducted after the Sonic Cradle experience revealed clear subjective elements of mindfulness meditation as described in relevant literature ( Forte et al., 1987, Stoyva and Carlson, 1993, Kabat-Zinn et al., 1992, Lutz et al., 2006 and Kang and Whittingham, 2010). Participants consistently reported starting their session by exploring the control paradigm before transitioning to a loss of intention and clarity of mind. Participants also reported imagery, bodily sensations, and time distortions, paralleling mindfulness meditators on a 2-week retreat ( Forte et al., 1987). Those participants with previous experiences relevant to meditation consistently compared Sonic Cradle to their prior experiences, with many suggesting it was somehow easier to engage with. A few participants even reported personal developments and emotional responses to the system. Almost every single participant described their experience in Sonic Cradle as relaxing and desirable, suggesting that the system may be able to significantly promote the self-regulation of psychological health by persuading behaviour/attitude change. Any participant who particularly enjoyed Sonic Cradle could learn how their pleasant experience was theoretically similar to that which is experienced by practitioners of mindfulness meditation. Such experiences have been shown to change attitudes and behaviour ( Fogg, 2003). Sonic Cradle may motivate users to independently pursue and develop an interest in this therapeutic contemplative practice. The fact that participants had a vague notion of the system׳s association with meditation in advance could play a role in these conclusions; however, meditation is a notably difficult skill and it would be difficult to argue that a simple design intention, experimental demand, and 15 min alone could give rise to the findings we have seen in this investigation. It is with limitations in mind that we conclude on this design artifact׳s pleasant provocation of subjective elements of mindfulness. Further study is required to directly validate whether Sonic Cradle provides the same acute stress relief associated with mindfulness meditation, whether it can directly motivate long-term adoption of this psychologically self-regulating practice, and whether it has these same striking effects on a randomized sample population. 6.2. Future research directions Findings and results from the present investigation have raised a wide range of new academic questions worthy of pursuit. First of all, the idea that Sonic Cradle seems to be encouraging elements of mindfulness also sheds a new light on research aimed at understanding the psychological and physiological mechanisms underlying this meditative practice. Future investigations could consider randomized controlled studies which compare an interactive system like Sonic Cradle with guided meditation tapes, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction courses, and expert mindfulness practitioners in pursuit of similarities and differences. Controlled studies could also be used to separate out the individual factors of Sonic Cradle in an attempt to determine which findings are resulting from which constituent elements of the system design. Control groups could compare a full Sonic Cradle implementation with partial versions in a lit room, versions without bodily suspension, and versions with varied interaction paradigms. These studies could use robust physiological indicators in a randomized participant sample (i.e. heart rate variability, salivary stress hormones, electroencephalogram, etc.) to get more insight into how Sonic Cradle affects users in comparison to control conditions. Other directions forward can specifically aim to tweak and optimize practical versions of the system. Some qualitative results suggested that the system may have been too relaxing for an optimized experience of mindfulness. It would be useful to run design-based research to explore less comfortable suspension or even more aggressive sound in pursuit of even stronger user experiences. In fact, the topic of sound quality was left relatively unexplored in the present study: audio was crowd-sourced for diversity with very little curation. Future design sessions could also explore intentionally defined collections of sound and altered sound parameters in pursuit of optimizing new iterations. Whether exploring academic or practical directions forward, further investigations should try 30-min sessions or even hour-long sessions to help determine how far an individual Sonic Cradle session could go toward strengthening the acute experiential effects revealed in the present study. Future studies could also explore the effects of repeated exposure to the system and include follow-ups which investigate for changes in attitude and behaviour towards contemplative practices and stress. The authors are willing to divulge all resources, software, and information to any potential collaborators. 6.3. Persuasive media for long-term wellbeing The stress relief associated with mindfulness meditation can significantly improve people׳s wellbeing and quality of life; not only because stress is a subjectively unpleasant phenomenon, but also because it negatively influences the brain, reduces immune system function, and causes/exacerbates a wide range of clinical problems (anxiety, depression, etc.). In the context of stress management technology, Sonic Cradle represents a new approach; instead of only focusing on continuous engagement for self-quantification and reflection, biofeedback-based systems can also be persuasive, serving as ‘training wheels’ in one׳s independent establishment of non-technological practices which manage stress. We believe the results presented in this investigation call for more research on persuasive media which aim to teach and demystify the vital practice of mindfulness meditation. Instead of creating stress-reduction applications which counter-intuitively encourage users to evaluate themselves and force them to depend on yet another technology, the possibility exists for interactive media to play a role in empowering people to manage their own stress independent of any external tool. While many of us have lived through the advent of new technologies and can perhaps regulate the stress they bring into our lives to some degree, younger generations are simply born into this environment: “Today׳s adolescents have no less need than those of previous generations to learn empathic skills, to think about their values and identity, and to manage and express feelings. They need time to discover themselves, time to think. But technology, put in the service of always-on communication and telegraphic speed and brevity, has changed the rules of engagement with all of this. When is downtime, when is stillness?” (Turkle 2011) Sonic Cradle paradoxically demonstrates how interactive systems might be designed specifically to provide the moments of stillness and self-reflection needed to maintain wellbeing in saturated media environments. We have shown how technology can introduce non-practitioners to the subjective clarity of mind and loss of intention characteristic of mindfulness meditation. To summarize, mounting evidence implies mindfulness meditation as an effective practice for psychological self-regulation; the human mind appears to be already well-equipped with tools to manage its own stress. If most technologies distract us from these mental faculties in favour of stressful, constant productivity, Sonic Cradle represents a step in the opposite direction. Instead of forcefully resisting today׳s exponentially growing technophilic information society, maybe an alternative solution lies in building bridges directly to the restful clarity it has obscured.