MindTouch: Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Mid-Air Tactile Perception

As we constantly seek to improve and expand upon the capabilities of technology, we frequently wonder whether we use technology to its fullest extent. Studies indicate that increasing our awareness and mindfulness of our senses may lead to a journey of unexplored experiences. In this paper, we focus on the perception of mid-air haptics stimuli and whether it can be improved through mindfulness meditation. We have conducted an experiment with 22 participants given the task to recognize digits 0 to 9 drawn on their palms using a mid-air haptic device under two conditions - with and without prior mindfulness meditation. Results show that for frequencies targeting both Meissner (40 Hz) and Pacinian (200 Hz) receptors, meditation significantly improves performance of the participants, as well as increases their confidence. This suggests that including a short meditation step in haptic user interfaces could lead to improved system performance and user satisfaction.