Autoethnography of Techno-Spiritual Practices at CHI 2025

Song’s research is part of her ongoing doctoral study, which explores the intersection of technology and spiritual practices. Her primary focus is on the incorporation of digital devices, such as the Muse 2 headband, into spirituality. This commercial product, usually employed for meditation, was utilized by Song to monitor the biodata associated with her Christian prayer practices. Her study aimed to determine if there is a relationship between these biodata and spiritual experiences, emotions, and overall well-being.

Song adopted an autoethnographic approach, documenting her personal experiences with the Muse headband over the course of eight months. Her investigations revealed intriguing insights, including both the potential benefits and distractions posed by such technology in spiritual contexts. "Incorporating digital devices may not be as beneficial to spiritual practices as one might think," she notes. "Instead, it can bring distractions and doubts, which I meticulously documented in my research diary."

The acceptance of the researcher’s paper is particularly noteworthy because it tackles a relatively sensitive and underexplored topic within human-computer interaction. As Andrés Lucero, one of Song’s co-authors, highlighted, "Research on spirituality and religion within human-computer interaction has often been considered somewhat taboo. Sarah’s work is a breakthrough in this respect, combining both first-person methods and empirical data from a year-long study."

Song’s research offers valuable insights for designers and researchers interested in creating technology for spiritual contexts. Her findings emphasize the importance of personalized approaches, considering various external factors such as sound and light, which can significantly impact individual spiritual experiences. The paper also underscored the essential nature of careful and sensitive design when catering to spiritually- oriented technology users.

Furthermore, this pioneering approach has not only contributed a significant research paper to the CHI community but has also opened new avenues for exploring the interrelations between technology, spirituality, and well-being.