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The Breathing Garment - Exploring Breathing-Based Interactions through Deep Touch Pressure

Jung, Annkatrin (2020) The Breathing Garment - Exploring Breathing-Based Interactions through Deep Touch Pressure.

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Abstract:Deep touch pressure is used to treat sensory processing difficulties by applying a firm touch to the body to stimulate the nervous system and soothe anxiety. I conducted a long-term exploration of deep touch pressure from a first-person perspective, using shape-changing pneumatic actuators, breathing and ECG sensors to investigate whether deep touch pressure can guide users in semi-autonomous interactions with their breathing and encourage greater introspection and body awareness. Based on an initial collaborative material exploration, I designed the breathing garment - a wearable vest which guides the wearer through deep breathing techniques. This work addresses a gap in HCI research around the subjective experience of deep touch pressure and biosensing. The long-term, felt engagement with different breathing techniques opened up a rich design space around pressure-based actuation in the context of breathing. This rendered several experiential qualities of the shape-changing pneumatic actuators, such as: applying subtly changing pressure to draw attention to specific body parts, but also disrupting the habitual way of breathing with asynchronous and asymmetric actuation patterns; taking on a leading or following role in the interaction; and acting as a communication channel between two people as well as between one person and their soma.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Clients:
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Faculty:EEMCS: Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Subject:50 technical science in general, 54 computer science
Programme:Interaction Technology MSc (60030)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/85257
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