A multimodal tableware system for supporting mindful eating in solo dining: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Promoting healthier eating behaviors is an important strategy for addressing the global burden of lifestyle-associated diseases. With the increasing prevalence of solo dining, individuals often develop rapid and inattentive eating habits, which may contribute to poor digestion, overeating, and unhealthy dietary patterns. OBJECTIVE: To explore how improving solo dining behaviors can be embedded in everyday dining artifacts, we developed SensEat, a modular embodied tableware system that coordinates visual, auditory, and haptic micro-feedback during solo dining. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An exploratory fixed-sequence within-subject study involving 20 participants was performed to compare the SensEat-guided intervention (SGI) with an app-guided intervention (AGI). Because all participants completed AGI prior to SGI, the condition and order effects could not be separated. Behavioral outcomes (meal duration and chews per bite), self-reported experience (five IMI-informed single-item ratings), and perceived task workload (three selected NASA-TLX ratings) were assessed. RESULTS: Relative to the AGI session, the SGI session was associated with longer meal duration and more chews per bite (both PHolm < 0.001), higher Interest/Enjoyment (PHolm = 0.016) and Value/Usefulness (PHolm = 0.002), and higher Mental Demand (PHolm = 0.013). Differences in Perceived Competence, Effort/Importance, Pressure/Tension, Performance, and Frustration were not statistically significant after Holm correction. CONCLUSION: These exploratory findings support the feasibility of embedding multimodal eating-pace guidance into everyday tableware. Within the fixed AGI → SGI sequence, the SensEat session is associated with behavioral patterns such as slower eating, higher Interest/Enjoyment and Value/Usefulness, and higher Mental Demand, which highlights the promise and attentional cost of artifact-embedded guidance.