A PROJECT BY ANDRIANA NASSOU & ANDREA PISA

Transcription

1 A PROJECT BY ANDRIANA NASSOU & ANDREA PISA

2 A TOOL TO MAINTAIN YOUR FOCUS Breathing is the only body function we can actively control. It provides us with a unique opportunity to influence our state of mind and mastering it through the practice of meditation has shown to lead to numerous cognitive and mental health benefits. xha is a tool that helps you learn to maintain your focus during meditation. xha senses when you lose focus and gives you a gentle reminder to bring your attention back to your practice by playing the audio of your own breath in real-time. When you have resumed focus, the audio disappears so you can focus on your natural breathing. In this way, xha guides you to develop the skill of using your breath as a feedback cue towards a more effective meditation practice. VIDEO

3 The component resting on the base of the throat records the audio of the user s breathing whilst they are meditating. The amulet measures the user s breathing pattern and based on this predicts when the user is losing focus. Scientific studies have been conducted to validate that a person s breathing pattern is a good indicator for whether they are focused during meditation. When loss of focus is detected, the audio of the user s breathing is played back to them in real-time as a gentle reminder to refocus on their breathing. When focus has been resumed, the audio disappears

4 PRODUCT & PACKAGING To ensure a pleasant user experience, the packaging of xha is designed based on the Japanese concept of poka-yoke, meaning inadvertent error prevention. The packaging has cutouts that reveal the product gradually by indicating each part s function in order to eliminate the chance of misunderstanding and confusion

5 DESIGN THINKING PROTOTYPING During the product development we conducted extensive research on the physiology of the body in order to determine the touch points between the device and the user. Thorough experimentation followed on the form and morphology of the product that included more than 50 physical prototypes. FORM CONCEPT By breathing in, air progressively fills our lungs and in the same way is released during exhalation. The tactile details of xha represent the gradual nature of breathing. The overall shape feels like a pebble, an organic form that inspires calmness

6 TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT ENGAGING WITH EXPERTS ENGAGING WITH USERS The development of xha began in Japan through a collaboration with Buddhist Head Priest Takafumi Kawakami of Shunkoin Temple in Kyoto. Speaking to Takafumi, we understood that many beginners get frustrated whilst learning to meditate and give up the practice. We set out to develop a tool that supported the user through the learning process whilst ensuring that the user picked up the skill to be able to continue the practice unassisted. Through a scientific user study where we measured multiple physiological measurements of people meditating, we found that the breathing pattern is a good indicator of whether someone is focused during meditation. This was a key insight since if you can monitor a person's attention levels it also means you can influence them to reduce the amount of time spent not focused. The technology was tested on dozens of novice meditators from all over the world and a paper was published outlining the findings at Ubicomp Conference in

7 SOCIAL BENEFIT Numerous scientific studies have proven that meditation is an effective tool to both treat and prevent mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Physical changes in the brain structure and cellular make-up of a person have been demonstrated in people who practice meditation and it has been shown that meditation is as effective in preventing depression relapse as maintenance antidepressant treatment. These findings are colossal in a world where mental illness is on the rise and particularly in a work setting where it is the leading cause of sickness and absence from work. Furthermore, through meditation the individual develops increased empathy and compassion, contributing to improved interpersonal behaviour and relationships

8 ABOUT US Andriana Nassou and Andrea Pisa are two Product Designers based in London with a passion for discovering how technology can become more humane. Instead of seamlessly fitting into our daily lives and enriching our experiences, current wearable technology simply records metrics and the data adds to the information overload we already face. It is then down to the user to achieve any behaviour change that may be desired. As part of project xha, they wanted to show how we can take wearables to the next level and enable it to improve our human abilities without making us further reliant on technology. xha was developed over a period when Andriana and Andrea were living in Tokyo and then New York as part of their double Master's course in Global Innovation Design from Imperial College London and Royal College of Art. CONTACT ANDRIANA NASSOU andriana.nassou@gmail.com ANDREA PISA andrea.m.pisa@gmail.com