A research team from Stanford's SHAPE Lab and the Virtual Human Interaction Lab has developed a new audio-enhancing device aimed at improving mindfulness. The device, which was introduced in a recent paper published in Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies, uses wrist straps equipped with microphones to pick up sounds produced by hand movements. These sounds are then digitally amplified and delivered to the user through earbuds.
Sean Follmer, associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of the SHAPE Lab, explained the motivation behind the project: "There's so much time that we spend in these moments – making coffee or waiting in line – where we find ourselves just endlessly scrolling on our phones. Meanwhile, life is passing us by. We wanted to create something that makes us more aware of our surroundings and to appreciate the real world over the digital."
Unlike other mindfulness technologies that often use verbal guidance, this device focuses on enhancing natural sounds associated with daily activities. The goal is to encourage users to become more attentive to their immediate environment.
"By playing these real-world sounds back in real time, our device invites a fresh perspective on ordinary interactions and fosters greater awareness of the present moment," Follmer said.
The team conducted an experiment involving 60 participants who interacted with various objects. Half of them used the audio augmentation feature while the other half did not. The researchers measured mindfulness using standardized questionnaires such as the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale – State and observed behaviors like time spent exploring objects.
Tao, one of the researchers involved in augmented and virtual reality studies, commented on the findings: "Participants with audio augmentation reported a statistically higher level of mindfulness. They also tended to explore objects for a longer time and exhibited more trial-and-error behaviors compared to those who did not have audio augmentation."
Feedback from two mindfulness coaches further supported these results. One participant said about using the device: "I felt like I could just be a child and go into a child play state," describing it as "intimate" and "safe." Another called it "a way of helping people fall in love with the world again, like to recover things that have been lost."
The researchers plan to study long-term effects and consider integrating this technology into existing mindfulness programs or clinical settings for conditions such as anxiety disorders or ADHD.
"We believe this device has the potential to help us all make sense of our world once again," Tao said.
