Abstract
Work stress is a crucial issue related to personal health and work performance. It has been proved that using plants in office is helpful for stress relief. In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of Plant Playmate - a smart plant that can augment human-plant interactions with interactive lights, anthropomorphic expressions and virtual credits for stress relief. A within-subject experiment was conducted with 18 participants in work environments, to compare practical effects of Plant Playmate with an ordinary plant. Participants’ stress levels were assessed through electrodermal data and self-assessment Manikin (SAM). We also collected their experience through user experience questionnaire (UEQ) and interviews. While electrodermal data did not prove that Plant Playmate can significantly relieve stress, SAM scores demonstrated that participants had higher levels of pleasure, arousal and dominance after using Plant Playmate. According to UEQ, participants recognized Plant Playmate as attractive, effective, dynamic and novel. We further discussed the design implications of Plant Playmate for office vitality.
Keywords
Plants, Work stress, User experience, Human-plant interaction, Electrodermal activity
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.416
Citation
Gao, B., Niu, S., Zhang, X., Sun, X.,and Ren, X.(2023) Plant Playmate: exploring effects of interactive plants for mental wellness microbreaks during knowledge-based work, in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.416
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
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Included in
Plant Playmate: exploring effects of interactive plants for mental wellness microbreaks during knowledge-based work
Work stress is a crucial issue related to personal health and work performance. It has been proved that using plants in office is helpful for stress relief. In this paper, we present the design and evaluation of Plant Playmate - a smart plant that can augment human-plant interactions with interactive lights, anthropomorphic expressions and virtual credits for stress relief. A within-subject experiment was conducted with 18 participants in work environments, to compare practical effects of Plant Playmate with an ordinary plant. Participants’ stress levels were assessed through electrodermal data and self-assessment Manikin (SAM). We also collected their experience through user experience questionnaire (UEQ) and interviews. While electrodermal data did not prove that Plant Playmate can significantly relieve stress, SAM scores demonstrated that participants had higher levels of pleasure, arousal and dominance after using Plant Playmate. According to UEQ, participants recognized Plant Playmate as attractive, effective, dynamic and novel. We further discussed the design implications of Plant Playmate for office vitality.