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Whakahā

Whakahā was created in response to a growing disconnection from hā in Te Ao Hurihuri. While modern research continues to highlight altered breathing, many digital wellness experiences reduce breath to something mechanical and purely physical. In contrast, te ao Māori understands hā as a source of mauri and connection between people, whakapapa and te taiao. The kaupapa explores reindigenisation through a meta-modernist, future-facing approach to how digital design might better align with Indigenous worldviews and values.

A key challenge was avoiding technology that encouraged users to breathe “correctly”, risking further disconnection from Papatūānuku, hauora and embodied knowledge. Rather than following this same optimised-breath framework, Whakahā explores how digital design can communicate a te ao Māori worldview of hā through relational learning and environmental storytelling. It invites users to observe, exhale fully and interact with the hononga between hā, people, te taiao and creation narratives, encouraging renewed respect for hā and a deeper connection to tinana and the origins of people.

Problem statement

Contemporary lifestyles have contributed to increasing rates of altered and dysfunctional breathing, driven by factors such as chronic stress, prolonged screen use, poor posture and disrupted sleep. Beyond these physiological changes lies a broader cultural disconnection, where breath is increasingly treated as an automatic bodily function rather than something to understand, care for or respect. In contrast, te ao Māori understands hā as a source of mauri and an enduring connection between people, whakapapa and te taiao. This presents an opportunity for interaction design to explore more relational approaches that reconnect people with the life-giving role of breath

Design question

How can digital interaction support a return to Māori understandings of hā as a foundational connection between tinana (body), taiao (environment), wairua (spirit), and whakapapa (relationships and lineage)?

Outcome / Output

Whakahā is an interactive digital installation where users gently blow into a microphone to awaken a responsive landscape. Rather than treating breath as a mechanical function or as data, each exhale becomes a symbolic trigger for environmental storytelling, animating wind, fire, water, wildlife, and cosmic events that reflect and educate about the Māori worldview. The interaction invites users to experience breath not simply as a biological function, but as a force that shapes relationships between people, the living world, and creation narratives.

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Design approach

Every design decision reinforces the project's purpose. The visual language references pre-colonial Aotearoa, using a handcrafted low-poly environment to place users within a world shaped by relationships between people, whenua, time and breath.

My design framework positions digital interaction as a bridge between ancient understandings of hā (breath) and contemporary digital life. The aim is not to instruct users on how to breathe, but to create an experience that reawakens respect for breathing itself. Rather than treating breath as a mechanical function, the interaction recognises it as a living connection between people, body, and whakapapa. This reflects mātauranga Māori, maramataka, and the value of observation and relationship within te ao Māori.

Whakahā acknowledges that there is no single correct way to breathe, only different levels of awareness and connec- tion. Whakahā becomes both an act of reindigenisation and a reminder that digital design can help us rediscover embodied respect for our hā. Designed to reconnect users with the lost respect for their breath, body, and ancestral rhythms of life, Whakahā seeks to leave a lasting impression.

Rather than instructing users how to breathe “correctly”, Whakahā positions breath as symbolic input. Technology does not judge or quantify breath, it responds to it.

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Rejecting metrics, scores, and medicalised breath

Although research supports the benefits of slow, controlled breathing, translating breath into scores, targets, or performance metrics was intentionally rejected.

Most breath-tracking technologies assume there is a single “correct” way to breathe. This frames breath as something to be measured, corrected, and optimised. In Te Ao Māori, breath is not mechanical. It is hā carrying hau, mauri, and wairua, and it changes with environment,emotion, and circumstance.

From an ethical perspective, breath data is deeply personal. Treating breath as data to be captured, stored, or owned raises serious concerns around user intrusiveness and data sovereignty, and echoes extractive relationships between bodies and technology.

Trade-off: This meant sacrificing numerical precision, performance feedback, and the sense of optimisation common in wellness technologies.

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Hononga, observation, and letting the land teach

Rather than instructing users how to breathe, Whakahā invites observation. Breath is not evaluated. It is responded to.

The experience draws on Māori modes of learning grounded in hononga and maramataka, where understanding emerges through relationship, rhythm, and attentiveness to the environment. Users are not told when they are doing things “right”. Instead, they observe how the world responds to their presence over time.

When balance is found, the environment settles and comes alive. When balance is lost, the world gently quietens without judgement. The land remains the teacher, and the user learns through noticing change rather than receiving instruction.

This approach preserves dignity, avoids medicalisation, and aligns with tikanga Māori, where breath is honoured through relationship and balance rather than correction.

Composition and design

The pā setting acts as a visual return to pre-settler Aotearoa. Rather than depicting the present, the environment reflects a time where relationships between people, land, and breath were more closely held.

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Brand Identity & Story

Visuals

The branding shifted throughout the project, changing from a monochrome orange horizon theme to a dark green gradient and a hundred in between. The initial orange and brown palette was intended to reference the skies of Aotearoa and reflect how Māori visual language has traditionally drawn inspiration from the natural world. However, as the project developed, the orange began to read as more outback or pan-Indigenous rather than distinctly Aotearoa-specific, unintentionally evoking Australian desert imagery rather than local whenua and atmosphere.

The shift toward darker greens and blacks better supported the emotional tone of the experience. It reflected the unsettling, serious nature of breath disconnection, while more accurately evoking the native landscape and night sky of pre-colonial Aotearoa. The green-black gradient is inspired by Mayor Island, Tūhua, a highly prized taonga for tangata whenua. Tūhua is unique among obsidian for its deep green tint when held to the light, and this quality became a visual reference for depth, vitality, and latent life within darkness.

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User testing

  • Early testing showed that responsiveness to breath was crucial. Zero lag felt significantly more realistic and impactful, whereas any delay reduced immersion. The original plan was for life to appear after a timer was met to encourage longer, more complete exhales.
  • The chronological order needed to be carefully considered. The timing of the scene coming to life had to make sense immediately, otherwise users became overwhelmed by instructions.
  • Breathing too big from the beginning would make users light headed, so starting short was a key insight to story-telling.
  • UI cards needed to be intentionally positioned. When centered vertically, they obstructed the scene and reduced anticipation.
  • Surrounding audio interference would sometimes trigger animations pre-maturely. The audio input was refined using a high-pass filter to isolate the frequency range generated by breath, improving detection accuracy and minimising interference from ambient noise. This was important if installation would be public.

These insights led to:

  • Immediate visual and audio feedback on exhale
  • Thoughtful cultural and environmental story-telling
  • Shorter, safer breath thresholds
  • Clearer UI phase transitions
  • Improved scene visibility during UI transitions
  • Warmer lighting and increased atmospheric depth

Later testing confirmed the experience no longer felt like a game or wellness app, but a reflective, embodied interaction focused on balance and mauri.

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Future

• Work with Māori knowledge holders to extend narrative and establish more educational story-telling. For example, reveal what certain stars and winds might mean, or more educational relationships between te taiao and the kainga village.
• Work with puoro musicians on a more ambient sound track
• Add more 3d movement, camera movement and detail with 3d textures and shaders.

Reflection

Whakahā began as an ambitious exploration into generative systems and responsive environments, but quickly became an exercise in restraint, clarity, and intentional design. What I initially imagined as a complex, data-driven experience evolved into something more focused; a controlled, narrative-driven interaction where breath activates and restores mauri within the space. This shift was not a compromise, but a realisation that meaningful interaction is not defined by technical complexity, but by clarity, responsiveness, and emotional impact.

If I were to continue developing Whakahā, my focus would be on expanding the narratives and working alongside Māori artists and experts to keep adding more narratives. Especially educational narratives. I would refine spatial depth and immersion. This would involve reworking the current pacing system to support longer, more layered interactions, alongside introducing three-dimensional objects, camera movement and environmental response. While this level of complexity sat outside the scope of a capstone project, it remains a clear direction for future development.

A key learning throughout this project was understanding how interaction logic shapes experience. While I relied on AI support to assist with C# and Unity implementation, this became a tool for learning rather than a shortcut. Through building and troubleshooting systems, I developed a foundational understanding of state management, timing, and how small technical decisions influence user perception. This process challenged me, but ultimately strengthened my ability to think structurally about interaction design.

At the same time, the project clarified where my strengths lie. I am most effective when working at the intersection of concept, storytelling, and visual design. I am drawn to shaping how an experience feels, how it unfolds, and how users move through it. While I will continue developing my technical independence, I see programming as a supporting tool rather than the core of my practice.