The Empathy Machine

Heartbeat device

Description: A stethoscope is modified so it detects the heartbeat, amplifies the analog signal through a microphone and transmits the sounds through bones transducers

Pros: The analog signal reproduces the sound of heartbeats, hence generates a better quality of experiment.

Cons: Lots of sound interferences which hinder sound precision (and eventually data precision) + movement interferences will hinder the biofeedback process since the participants are both senders and receivers of the biosignals.

Breathing device

Description: A wearable device with two accelerometers. One in the front of the chest and one in the back of the neck. The difference of the values between the two accelerometers allow us to gather data about the rhythm and the intensity of the breath. A system then is able to translate these data into motion of the vest.

Pros: An easy way to detect breath without having to measure air flows

Concern: What would be the best way to provide biofeedback ? We chose a system of two stripes attached to the front of the vest and to a servo motor localised at the back of the vest. According to the respiration rhythm, the servo motor will tighten and loosen the stripes, exerting pressure on the chest of the participant.

Overall concerns:

We need to think about a system that does not create confusion between senders’ and receivers’ biosignals, especially when there are group interactions

Making user-friendly wearable devices

The chest mount harness we made was not very user-friendly. Indeed, it is tedious to install on the participants (the devices comprise many wires, the harness needs to be adjusted to the participant's chest, etc.). We even broke the ethernet wire that was linking various parts of our breathing biofeedback feedback during our showcase at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris since many people tried it !

Solutions:

- using boards instead of protoboards/breadboards so that the electronic components stay in place

- Install a wireless system (with bluetooth) to simplify the whole set of devices (and the way they communicate between the participants)

Ｗeek1 - BrainStorm & Concept Formation

Week2 - Assembling Arduino sensor 

Week3 - Making Wearable Chest Mount