Commensality, the act of eating together, is commonly associated with many benefits. Dining solo, in contrast, is frequently connected to adverse effects on a person. There is a growing interest in human-computer interaction (HCI) and design in how innovations can enhance eating experiences by, for example, facilitating commensality. The steadily growing number of people eating alone and the associated risks beg the question of how HCI and design could contribute to and improve the solo dining experience and whether or not mimicking or facilitating commensality is what solo diners want. This two-phased study reports on the context exploration of the multimodal solitary dining experience. In the first phase, we scoped the literature describing the benefits and drawbacks of solo dining and commensality. For the second phase, a digital food diary was developed and completed by six solo diners to collect further insights and user requirements. Photos and annotations collected as part of the food diary were analyzed using content analysis. The results indicate several advantages of eating alone, including feeling relaxed, perceiving solo dining as a moment of self-pampering, and appreciating the cooking experience. Overall, it seems that solo dining is not merely a lack of commensality, but a unique experience in and of itself, where people seem to strive towards finding reverie in eating.@en

The consumption of a meal is not just a bodily requirement but can also carry significant symbolic meaning. Solo dining is often contrasted to a shared eating experience and portrayed as an inferior way of eating a meal due to lacking essential social and normative qualities. Human-computer interaction research increasingly explores different ways of enhancing the solo dining experience. However, a focus seems to be on recreating aspects essential to the shared eating experience, such as a dining companion being present, rather than trying to enhance aspects that solo diners enjoy and, therefore, contribute to a reverie in eating. Based on earlier research findings, we developed a design concept that includes sound and visual elements supporting the multi-sensory eating experience and encouraging the user to concentrate on the food rather than seeking distraction. The formative usability evaluation results indicate that the proposed design needs further refinement to evoke the anticipated effect. @en