Exploring Biofeedback with a Tangible Interface Designed for Relaxation

Morgane Hamon, Rémy Ramadour, Jérémy Frey

2018

Abstract

Anxiety is a common health issue that can occur throughout one’s existence. In this pilot study we explore an alternative technique to regulate it: biofeedback. The long-term objective is to offer an ecological device that could help people cope with anxiety, by exposing their inner state in a comprehensive manner. We propose a first iteration of this device, “Inner Flower”, that uses heart rate to adapt a breathing guide to the user; and we investigate its efficiency and usability. Traditionally, such device requires user’s full attention. We propose an ambient modality during which the device operates in the peripheral vision. Beside comparing “Ambient” and “Focus” conditions, we also compare the biofeedback with a sham feedback (fixed breathing guide). We found that the Focus group demonstrated higher relaxation and performance on a cognitive task (N-back). However, there was no noticeable effect of the Ambient feedback, and the biofeedback condition did not yield any significant difference when compared to the sham feedback. These results, while promising, highlight the pitfalls of any research related to biofeedback, where it is difficult to fully comprehend the underlying mechanisms of such technique.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Hamon M., Ramadour R. and Frey J. (2018). Exploring Biofeedback with a Tangible Interface Designed for Relaxation.In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Physiological Computing Systems - Volume 1: PhyCS, ISBN 978-989-758-329-2, pages 54-63. DOI: 10.5220/0006961200540063

in Bibtex Style

@conference{phycs18,
author={Morgane Hamon and Rémy Ramadour and Jérémy Frey},
title={Exploring Biofeedback with a Tangible Interface Designed for Relaxation},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Physiological Computing Systems - Volume 1: PhyCS,},
year={2018},
pages={54-63},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0006961200540063},
isbn={978-989-758-329-2},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Physiological Computing Systems - Volume 1: PhyCS,
TI - Exploring Biofeedback with a Tangible Interface Designed for Relaxation
SN - 978-989-758-329-2
AU - Hamon M.
AU - Ramadour R.
AU - Frey J.
PY - 2018
SP - 54
EP - 63
DO - 10.5220/0006961200540063