Can immersive experiences be used to remediate eating behavioral issues?
An exploration of the potential of immersive physical space beyond entertainment
Team: May SunMin Hwang (Co-PI), Ji Youn Shin (PI), Zhanming Chen (RA)
Program: Digital Design Center
Eating disorders are serious and often fatal illnesses affecting approximately 9% of the U.S. population, or 28.8 million Americans in their lifetime1. Eating disorders can affect everyone, starting as young as five years old. In acknowledging that eating disorder illnesses are not only about food but more about the psychological state of an individual - we question how design and technology can be used to our advantage to create a healthy atmosphere for eating. The proposed research will investigate the effects of multi-sensory experiences of an immersive physical space on children’s food & eating behavior. There is great potential in utilizing the effects of multi-sensory spatial experience to good use, especially in enhancing certain aspects of our appetite and flavor, yet existing industry applications have remained mostly on entertainment and retail purposes.
In the greater context, this research will have implications for the trajectory of the development of future immersive experiences. Also, the findings of this research are intended to help populations with chronic disease (e.g., obesity, bone marrow cancer patients), in which healthy eating is known to improve their conditions significantly.
Keywords: Immersive Eating Environment, Healthy Eating and Well-Being
Funders: Digital Design Center
Other Collaborators: Fernando Maestre (CSE)
