How Emotion Monitoring Enhanced Sensory Workshops for Children

No. of Participants:	300+
​Nature of Event:	Multi-day Workshops
Products Used:	Upmood Mass/Insight
Metrics Collected:	Mood, Stress level, Valence level

Leading Nonprofit Organization in Hong Kong

This leading nonprofit organization is dedicated to empowering communities through educational and wellness programs, with a focus on children and families. In 2023, they partnered with Upmood to evaluate the emotional impact of their sensory engagement workshops for over 300 students aged 7-11 in Hong Kong's Western District. The goal was to understand how engaging the five senses influenced the children's emotions and to measure the effectiveness of their programs using biometric data.

Upmood was brought in to provide a data-driven approach to evaluate the emotional responses of the children during these workshops. Using Upmood Mass (for group monitoring) and Upmood Insight (for data analysis), the organization sought to measure the impact of their programming initiatives and gain insights into how different activities influenced the children's emotions.

Sensory Engagement Workshops with Upmood

Over 300 students participated in the workshops, each designed to engage one of the five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. During the workshops, the children wore Upmood bands, which collected biometric data to measure their emotional states in real time.

The workshops included activities such as:

Touch Workshop: Creating sand art

Smell Workshop: Aromatherapy sessions

Sound Workshop: Listening to music and nature sounds

Sight Workshop: Visual art and storytelling

Taste Workshop: Exploring different flavors and textures

Upmood's technology translated the biometric data into 11 distinct emotions, providing a comprehensive view of the children's emotional responses. The data revealed patterns in how each workshop influenced the children's moods, offering valuable insights into the effectiveness of the activities.

Why Upmood?

Upmood's products were instrumental in helping the nonprofit organization achieve its goals. The Upmood Mass system allowed for seamless group monitoring, enabling the organization to track the emotions of multiple children simultaneously. Meanwhile, Upmood Insight provided detailed analytics, breaking down the data needed.

The ability to measure emotions in real time and across a wide range of activities made Upmood an ideal partner for this initiative. The nonprofit organization could now quantify the emotional impact of their programs, ensuring that their workshops were not only engaging but also emotionally beneficial for the children and their families.

Key Findings and Outcomes

The data collected from 277 children revealed several notable trends:

• 🧘 Calmness was the primary emotion experienced across all workshops, indicating that the activities successfully created a relaxing and enjoyable environment.

• ⏳ The Touch Workshop (sand art) was the most exciting for female children but posed a challenge for male children, highlighting gender-based differences in engagement.

• 👃 Both male and female children found the Smell Workshop (aromatherapy) to be the most pleasant, suggesting that sensory activities involving smell have a universally positive impact.

• 👫 Children experienced a moderate stress level of 7.2 out of 10, likely due to the new environment and unfamiliar activities. This insight underscored the importance of creating a welcoming atmosphere for future programs.

These findings allowed the nonprofit organization to refine their workshops, tailoring activities to better suit the emotional needs of the children. For example, they could introduce more calming elements to reduce stress or design gender-inclusive activities to ensure equal engagement.

If you are interested in holding your own research with emotion monitoring or trying out Upmood products, please send us an email at support@upmood.com!