Kyung Yun Choi, Jinmo Lee, Neska El Haouij, Rosalind W. Picard, and Hiroshi Ishii. 2021. aSpire: Clippable, Mobile Pneumatic-Haptic Device for Breathing Rate Regulation via Personalizable Tactile Feedback. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts (CHI ’21 Extended Abstracts), May 8–13, 2021, Yokohama, Japan. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 7 pages.

Abstract

We introduce—aSpire—a clippable, mobile pneumatic-haptic device designed to help users regulate their breathing rate via subtle tactile feedback. aSpire can be easily clipped to a strap/belt and used to personalize tactile stimulation patterns, intensity, and frequency via its array of air pouch actuators that inflate/deflate individually. To evaluate the effectiveness of aSpire's different tactile stimulation patterns in guiding the breathing rate of people on the move, out-of-lab environment, we conducted a user study with car passengers in a real-world commuting setting. The results show that engaging with the aSpire does not evoke extra mental stress, and helps the participants reduce their average breathing rate while keeping their perceived pleasantness and energy level high.