How can we enable elder to maintain their spiritual practice and community connections despite their physical limitations?

Context

Visiting temples to burn incense and pay respects to ancestors is an important part of daily life for many elderly people in Taiwan. However, as they age and their physical conditions decline, many are unable to visit temples and perform worship. This not only results in a loss of spiritual support but, more importantly, diminishes their connection to the local community—a vital source of social and emotional support.

• Conducted at: National Taiwan University
• Supervisor: Prof. Cheng-Yuan Ho
• Project Type: Course project

Target Problem

Online worship is actualy an important national policy for reducing air polution from burning incense and joss paper, which endanger people’s health, particularly the elderly.

Since pandemic time, it has become increasingly common for ceremonies to be held both onsite and online. Youtube is an popular option.

However, many the elderly individual report that the online worship experience can be challenging.

Conducted interviews with four elderly participants who attended online ceremonies, revealing three key problems:

• Loss of Social Connection: Lack of interaction with other participants leads to loneliness.

  It feels like Iamjust sitting there staring at the screen, and that’s it —like I didn’t actualy do anything.

• Environmental Distractions: Home settings hinder concentration during rituals.

  It feels like Iamjust sitting there staring at the screen, and that’s it —like I didn’t actualy do anything.

• Absence of Physical Presence: Inability to burn joss paper or incense limits the sense of active participation.

  It feels like Iamjust sitting there staring at the screen, and that’s it —like I didn’t actualy do anything.

These issues reduce engagement and motivation for online worship, necessitating a platform that recreates the immersive and communal aspects of traditional ceremonies.

Solution

To overcome those chalenges, we created a platform with 3 interactive features. We hope that online worship transcends being merely a necessity.

1. Burning Joss Paper:
   • Virtual joss paper burning where the fire grows as more users contribute.
   • Promotes a sense of collaboration and shared purpose.
2. Pray Board:
   • Users leave prayers for ancestors and view others’ prayers to mirror traditional temple interactions.
3. Read Mode:
   • Real-time scripture reading with interactive sound wave animations responding to users’ voices.

Results

• Homepage Structure:
  • Features to join or create ceremony forums.
  • Navigation options for different modes: Pray Mode, Wish Mode, and Burning Joss Paper.

• Key Feature 1: Burning Joss Paper
  • The fire would grow larger when user add joss paper. Fosters a sense of collaboration allows users to feel as though they are “building something together.”

• Key Feature 2: Pray Broad
  • Leave messages to pray for their ancestors. They can also view others’ prayers, mirroring traditional temple practices in order to increase the engagement for user.
  • Wish card for user to write down message
  • Alows users to make wishes as they would in a temple while creating a timeless record in a virtual space.

• Key Feature 3: Read Mode
  
  • Scripture Reading with Interactive Sound Wave
  • Users can read Buddhist scriptures simultaneously online, accompanied by a real-time sound wave animation. The animation changes shape based on the users’ voices
  • Provide users with various types of scriptures to choose from.