TastyBeats: designing palatable representations of physical activity

In this paper, we introduce palatable representations that besides improving the understanding of physical activity through abstract visualization also provide an appetizing drink to celebrate the experience of being physically active. By designing such palatable representations, our aim is to offer novel opportunities for reflection on one's physical activities. We present TastyBeats, a fountain-based interactive system that creates a fluidic spectacle of mixing sport drinks based on heart rate data of physical activity, which the user can later consume to replenish the loss of body fluids due to the physical activity. We articulate our experiences in designing the system as well as learning gained through field deployments of the system in participants' homes for a period of two weeks. We found that our system increased participants' awareness of physical activity and facilitated a shared social experience, while the prepared drink was treated as a hedonic reward that motivated participants to exercise more. Ultimately, with this work, we aim to inspire and guide design thinking on palatable representations, which we believe opens up new interaction possibilities to support physical activity experience.