Calmstress

Team members

Hillary CHAN, David RACICOT, Daemon RETREN, Erica TIBERIA, Hongbo WU

Inspiration

Anxiety-related disorders make up the majority of mental illnesses. Examples of mental disorders related to anxiety are autism and anorexia nervosa. As such, being able to alleviate anxiety for those who are prone to frequent panic attacks would be useful. At the same time, a product called "Thunder Vest" exists to calm dogs who suffer panic attacks during thunderstorms. The Thunder Vest is a weighted vest that pushes on pressure points of the dog, thereby lowering its heart rate and calming it down. For humans, if one is already having a panic attack, placing a Thunder Vest would be difficult and inconvenient.

Acupressure (stress therapy that pushes on pressure points) has also been proven in literature to be extremely useful in alleviating anxiety. So a product that can be worn and that can immediately push on your pressure points when it senses that you are beginning to become very anxious will be helpful in treating anxiety-related disorders.

What it does and how it works

When you are experiencing stress or having a panic attack, your heart rate elevates. As your pulse increases, the Calmstress will detect when you heart rate reaches the stress level. Once the "stress" heart rate is reached, the Calmstress will activate. An internal motor (at the back) will turn, pushing the pressure pads into the pressure points (located on your collarbones and sternum). When your heart rate returns to normal (you're calmed down), Calmstress will release the pressure pads.

How I built it

The Calmstress prototype was built using Arduino, a pulse sensor, and a motor/ motor driver. The pulse sensor detects and calculates the heart rate, and a "stress threshold" of heart rate is set based on an individual's typical resting heart rate. The program detects when the heart rate elevates over this threshold, and tightens the pressure pads. When the heart rate returns back below the threshold, the motor loosens the pressure pads. The motor mechanism is made using a 3D printed pully and a metal cord, which attaches to the back of the Calmstress harness. This mechanism is enclosed within a styrofoam housing. The harness vest is made using seatbelt straps and thick foam pressure pads, designed for both comfort and wearability.

Challenges I ran into

Originally, we tried to use the Muse to detect stress (low alpha levels). Reading data consistently from the Muse SDK and passing it to the raspberry pi/ arduino was a roadblock. Additionally, wearing a headband in addition to the vest would make this system more visible when being used, and could cause a higher base level of anxiety. We decided to use the pulse sensor, and this is a more robust and reliable indicator in our current system. The Muse or other metrics may be useful in future versions of Calmstress.

It was also difficult to develop a lower profile pulley mechanism to be able to trigger the pressure points effectively. A small simple mechanism that could provide enough tension and force when activated.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

It works now!

What I learned

What's next for Calmstress

In future, we can incorporate more metrics to detect stress state. Further testing for Calmstress. Having a more integrated mechanism and developing a streamlined design of harness that will fit comfortably under everyday clothing.

Built With

• 3dprinting
• arduino
• belt
• foam
• motordriver
• pulse-rate-monitor