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The ever-increasing number of devices quantifying our lives offers a perspective of high awareness of one's wellbeing, yet it remains a challenge for personal informatics (PI) to effectively support data-based reflection. Effective reflection is recognised as a key factor for PI technologies to foster wellbeing. Here, we investigate whether building tangible representations of health data can offer engaging and reflective experiences. We conducted a between-subjects study where n = 60 participants explored their immediate blood pressure data in relation to medical norms. They either used a standard mobile app, built a data representation from LEGO® bricks based on instructions, or completed a free-form brick build. We found that building with instructions fostered more comparison and using bricks fostered focused attention. The free-form condition required extra time to complete, and lacked usability. Our work shows that designing instructional physicalisation experiences for PI is a means of improving engagement and understanding of personal data.

Playing together is crucial to the unique and invaluable bond between grandparents and grandchildren. However, co-located interactions and play can be limited due to time, distance, or pandemic-related restrictions. To facilitate distributed play, we developed MagiBricks, a system comprised of 3D-printed smart toy bricks and baseplates that provide feedback regarding their placement. The familiarity and appeal of toy bricks to both older adults and children make them ideal for intergenerational play. We conducted a within-subjects study with six grandparent-grandchildren pairs. We compared the interactions and perceived connectedness of the pairs while playing over a distance with either i) MagiBricks or ii) identical regular toy bricks. We found that MagiBricks affected communication dynamics, role taking, nature of play, and perception of connectedness during playtime compared to regular bricks, and were unanimously preferred. We contribute design implications for future systems leveraging (smart) tangibles and fostering intergenerational connectedness.

While the sport of golf offers unique opportunities for people of all ages to be active, it also requires mastering complex movements before it can be fully enjoyed. Extensive training is required to begin achieving any success, which may demotivate prospective players away from the sport. To aid beginner golfers and enable them to practice without supervision, we designed Subtletee-a system that enhances the bodily awareness of golfers by providing feedback on the position of their feet and elbows. We first identified key problems golf beginners face through expert interviews. We then evaluated different feedback modalities for Subtletee-visual, tactile and auditory in an experiment with 20 beginner golfers. We found that providing proprioception feedback increased the users' performance on the driving range, with tactile feedback providing the most benefits. Our work provides insights on delivering feedback during physical activity that requires high precision movements.

Although encounters with spiders are commonplace for people almost everywhere in the world, fear of spiders is one of the most frequently diagnosed phobias and immediate contact is widely perceived as unfavourable. We present a system for indirect, quasi-tangible interaction with spiders, to be applied in an exhibition context - a robotic arm, steered through gestural input, which mimics user’s actions and enables indirect physical interaction with the spider. The proof-of-concept prototype has been tested with N=15 users in museum-like environment. The concept of implementing an interactive modality to the exhibition was commented as an asset in terms amusement and education aiding, whilst being also a promising endeavour towards phobia-overcoming exercise.