Longitudinal Effects of Tangible Devices on Motor Learning and Meditative Effort

Establish how sustained use of tangible mindfulness devices affects motor learning, automaticity, and the effort required to maintain attentional regulation over time.

Background

Both the Embodied Sensory Expansion and Embodied Sensory Anchoring models include a long-term learning loop in which repeated practice is expected to make attentional or receptive regulation increasingly automatic and less effortful.

The paper states that the longitudinal relationship between device support, motor learning, and effort reduction has received little empirical attention. This problem concerns whether the proposed long-term learning mechanism actually develops through interaction with tangible mindfulness technologies, rather than merely through meditation practice in general.

References

To date, this longitudinal relationship between tangible device support and motor learning has received little empirical attention and remains a significant research gap.

— Grounding Mindfulness in Embodied Tangibles: A Scoping Review & Theoretical Framework for HCI Design  (2608.19673 - Ratnayake et al., 20 Aug 2026) in Section 5.1, paragraph “Research Gaps--Embodied Sensory Expansion model”