Challenges of Designing and Developing Tangible Interfaces for Mental Well-being
This addresses the problem of improving mental health technologies for users who face stigma or resource limitations, but it is incremental as it focuses on identifying existing challenges rather than proposing new solutions.
The paper tackles the challenges in designing tangible interfaces for mental well-being, identifying technical, ergonomic, and aesthetic barriers, as well as user-oriented issues like engagement and ethics, but does not report specific results or numbers.
Mental well-being technologies possess many qualities that give them the potential to help people receive assessment and treatment who may otherwise not receive help due to fear of stigma or lack of resources. The combination of advances in sensors, microcontrollers and machine learning is leading to the emergence of dedicated tangible interfaces to monitor and promote positive mental well-being. However, there are key technical, ergonomic and aesthetic challenges to be overcome in order to make these interfaces effective and respond to users' needs. In this paper, the barriers to develop mental well-being tangible interfaces are discussed by identifying and examining the recent technological challenges machine learning, sensors, microcontrollers and batteries create.User-oriented challenges that face the development of mental well-being technologies are then considered ranging from user engagement during co-design and trials to ethical and privacy concerns.