Concept:
When we are stressed, our bodies release stress hormones. Popular Science found that “Changes in cortisol and other hormones register in your saliva, indicating not only stress but according to a recent study, possibly also how well you respond to it.” Short term stress can be healthy. Long-term stress is dangerous, always telling our bodies that we are in danger or activating different systems to move constantly is taxing and exhausts out bodies.
I am wondering how we can remind our bodies of some interface what kind of stress we are experiencing. Or, creating a system to help us determine if the stress we are experiencing is healthy or damaging.
How:
(Brainstorm)
Create something of which there are many pieces of input—haptic, heat sensors, perspiration, heart beat and more.
AND
Output would be a scent to help you calm down in some way. Or, react based off of what you determine as feedback. Next, you input your feelings before and after.
OR
Output: Lights to communicate to your brain, if it is good stress or bad stress. And, then cognitively acknowledge your feelings.
There is a wide body of previous work around wearables for biometrics-based mood detection/augmentation/modulation, so be cautious of navigating and positioning within it. Smell is a compelling aspect, if you can clarify the argument it the best sense for modulating stress. Combining many biometric monitors to estimate stress levels -esp. good vs. bad stress – is huge task, probably outside the scope of this class. Is there other data we have access to that could be a proxy for stress level? What feedback does the user give and how is it used?
-Dan
Penny: Think about what it really means to be stressed, what do you do, how do you respond, do you try to hide away from the stress, or do you go for a walk, or do you just ignore it? Have a think about some of these natural responses that people already do when they are stressed, and what we already to to try to ‘de-stress’. Perhaps the answer isn’t creating a technology that is aware of you by monitoring, but something you turn to when you are stressed.