Using a heart rate monitor, a hacked MP3 player and a Lilypad Arduino, two students Dana Ramler (Industrial Design) and Holly Schmidt (MAA) from Emily Carr University developed a vest that monitor’s the wearer’s heart rate and, in response, plays a set of soundscapes.
Aptly titled Bio Circuit, the garment uses the wearer’s physiological state to provide bio feedback alerting them of their own heightened state of anxiety or calmness. If the wearer’s heart rate is low, the soundscape played will reflect a quiet natural area with sounds such as water, birds and insects. If high, the wearer will hear a cacophony of urban sounds such as people talking and traffic. From the creators site: With each beat of the heart, Bio Circuit connects the wearer with the inner workings of their body. In this sense the garment functions like other biofeedback devices that use sensors to provide a person with information about their physiological state. With Bio Circuit, we are proposing that these kinds of devices could extend a person’s awareness to include the environment. I personally really appreciate that the design of the garment was taken into as much consideration as the concept/function.
