In the Gut Feeling project, we explored how new scientific knowledge on the connection between the gut and mental health prompt us to think about new types of self-tracking technologoes. We involved experts from the Medical Museion Copenhagen in a two week long cultural probes study using ethanol breathalysers to reflect on our own experiences of our gut and mental health to inspire a design brief for an alternative gut tracking device. 

This led to the design of Loupe and Lightbox, which together externalize gut biota for closer examination, aesthetic appreciation, and reflection on the self. The device represents an example of self-tracking as cultivation—building a longer-term relationship with the self as something to be nurtured, tended to, and cared about.

Publications: 

Laurens Boer, Harvey Bewley, Tom Jenkins, Sarah Homewood, Teresa Almeida, and Anna Vallgårda. 2020. Gut-Tracking as Cultivation. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 561–574.

Tom Jenkins, Laurens Boer, Sarah Homewood, Teresa Almeida, and Anna Vallgårda. 2021. Designing with Emerging Science: Developing an Alternative Frame for Self-Tracking. In Proceedings of the 32nd Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (OzCHI '20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 128–140.

Research conducted at the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark in collaboration with the Medical Museion Copenhagen, and Laurens Boer, Harvey Bewley, Tom Jenkins, Sarah Homewood, Teresa Almeida, and Anna Vallgårda.