This interactive wall device tries to get you to relax at home

Life at home has become a little bit more hectic recently, especially when the boundaries between work and personal life start to blur. For many people, home no longer offered a sanctuary away from business or social stresses, at least in terms of physical location. That doesn’t have to be the case, of course, even when work-from-home arrangements are still in effect. One can always take time and space to take a breather from the hustle and bustle of life if only we had effective reminders to do so within the day. Alarm clocks are too easy to dismiss, especially those on our phones or watches, which is why this smart home device tries to offer visual and audio cues that try to get people to take a few calming breaths before going about their busy day again.

Designer: JiaYan Li

When people think about trying to relax at home, they will most likely think of activities like meditation or soaking in a tub. While those definitely work, you don’t exactly have to go that far to put yourself in a calmer and less frantic state. A few minutes or even seconds of breathing can do wonders, giving your body and especially your brain the needed oxygen while also giving you momentary space to get some clarity.

While breathing is, of course, natural for us humans, such controlled and mindful breathing exercises aren’t. Until it becomes second nature, we’ll always need some cues and guides to help us on our way, no matter how subtle those hints are. That’s what the YIYI interactive relaxation companion tries to accomplish in your home, or in any space for that matter. As a bonus, it also functions as a piece of wall decor that’s sure to grab guests’ attention.

YIYI is pretty much a rounded rectangle with two slow-spinning circles on each end. The slow rotation of discs can be likened to the rising and setting of the sun or, more closely, the rhythmic act of breathing in and out. The discs’ wavy design and fogged translucent material, matched with the soft glow of lights underneath, try to create a soft and calming visual that’s intended to help people enter a relaxed state unconsciously.

In addition to this almost hypnotic movement, the device also offers appropriate sounds to further induce that relaxed state. YIYI also has some interactive modes, where people can greet the device or simply pass it by, and it will greet the person in return. It can also detect ambient sounds to adjust its operation, like starting its meditative spinning when it analyzes that there is too much stress-inducing noise around.

Some might consider it overkill to dedicate precious wall space to something that might only be used sparingly throughout the day, but one can’t take for granted how humans need such visual and audio reminders to be able to switch their focus. Since it doubles as an interesting piece of decor, it also strikes two birds with one stone. Maybe one day, people in the household will no longer need those cues, but YIYI will still be there to guide them whenever they need it again.

The post This interactive wall device tries to get you to relax at home first appeared on Yanko Design.

AirRes Mask wants to make the Metaverse a bit too realistic

We experience virtual reality by proxy through goggles and controllers, but a new mask could give us a first-hand feel of a potentially harrowing Metaverse experience.

Virtual and augmented reality are supposed to enable us to easily go places where we can’t physically reach otherwise or experience things that would be impossible under the laws of physics. Being able to walk the surface of Mars without worrying about how to breathe is one of the many experiences that the Metaverse promises to deliver, sooner or later. At the same time, however, some people criticize these experiences as clearly fake and unbelievable because you can only see but not feel or smell the real thing. For better or worse, a team of researchers is trying to at least replicate how you breathe in virtual worlds, but it might make it feel too real to the point that our brains and bodies won’t be able to distinguish what is real and what isn’t.

Designers: Markus Tatzgern, Michael Domhardt, Martin Wolf, Michael Cenger, Gerlinde Emsenhuber, Radomir Dinic, Nathalie Gerner, Arnulf Hartl

Virtual reality hardware naturally starts with the eyes and ears, as they are the easiest and most important of the senses to deceive in order to create a suspension of belief. No matter how convincing that illusion is, however, it breaks down when you start trying to move around and interact with the virtual world, which happens in the real world through controllers while standing completely still. Much of the R&D in the technologies that will power the so-called Metaverse revolve around navigation and interaction more believable, like with the use of gloves and walking machines. Very few address the believability of the sense of smell or, at the very least, the act of breathing.

Researchers from the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences in Austria are investigating that are of the virtual experience by creating a mask design to restrict airflow to control breathing resistance and, therefore, the wearer’s breathing capability. The prototype looks like a whitewashed dystopian gas mask and almost hints at the contraption’s rather serious and almost critical application. A final product would look more refined, presuming something like this would ever be made commercially in the first place.

The idea is almost simple when you first hear about it, and it’s about making the virtual experience more believable by tricking your body into thinking they’re dealing with real-world situations. Walking through a house that’s on fire might not smell like the real thing, but the mask can regulate and restrict airflow so that you’d experience the same difficulty in breathing as you would if you were in a real-life fire. It might activate the brain’s natural fight-or-flight response, taking the experience closer to reality without actually endangering the wearer. Hopefully, the wearer is physically fit to experience that kind of stress, though.

Conversely, the person’s breathing could also be used as an additional way to control their virtual avatar, making their digital counterpart look as exhausted as they are in the real world. It can also open the doors to activities and games that would normally require you to blow air, like blowing out candles or blowing up balloons. The mask can also be used as a control and monitoring device for training simulations for firefighters and emergency personnel.

The same people that criticize virtual reality for being so obviously fake might also criticize this kind of invention for going overboard and making the experience too realistic. In a way, realism could actually remove some of the appeal of the Metaverse, particularly the ability to experience different places, worlds, and things without having to worry about hyperventilating. Of course, there will be experiences that are perfect for such breathing control devices, like horror games or exercise activities, but most people will probably try to do without the added gear. Alternatively, such a mask can be more useful for medical applications, helping medical personnel diagnose a patient’s well-being through monitored and regulated breathing.

The post AirRes Mask wants to make the Metaverse a bit too realistic first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Award-Winning Breathing Assistive Stone expands and contracts to guide your meditation

Prana, according to ancient yoga practice, is known to be the universal life energy, in which breathing helps flow through each of us and every other living thing; it keeps us alive. When energy channels are even partially blocked, this disrupts the flow of prana, which can lead to heightened feelings of stress or anxiety. Ayama means to extend, draw out, or regulate. Pranayama is the practice of breath control, which essentially helps clear out any blockages in energy channels that prevent our breathing from bringing us calm.

The makers behind Ayama, Wenxi Qi, and Hengbo Zhang received the iF Design Talent Award in 2019 for their breathing assistive device that helps those of us with anxiety reach a point of self-induced meditation. Ayama, which resembles a smooth, grey garden stone, is really a rhythmic breathing guide that, thanks to fully-integrated motors that run off an electric charge, expands and contracts according to pranayama breathing techniques. When we focus on our breathing and let it guide our peace of mind, then our parasympathetic nervous system is supported, which means our heart rate assumes a more natural-feeling rhythm and our otherwise tense muscles tend to relax in response. This is called a “relaxation response” and provides the purpose for this design.

With an intuitive interface, Ayama is self-explanatory and easy to follow. By pressing the main button on the grey stone, users can adjust the different modes of pranayama: ujjayi, sitali, kapalabhati, and nadhi sodhana. These varying breathing techniques help to quell different stressors, including body temperature and lack of concentration by helping the user achieve a generally calm state of mind. Additionally, Ayama comes with a wireless charger that mimics a miniature zen garden, which works as a friendly reminder that by just checking in with our emotional headspaces, we can practice pranayama anywhere, anytime. Without the help of physical aid, it can be difficult to incorporate healthful breathing techniques in public life. So, Ayama brings a sense of calm when considering how insurmountable battling anxiety can sometimes feel – all you have to do is press a button and breathe.

Designers: Wenxi Qi and Hengbo Zhang

The NIOX VERO makes asthma detection easy, efficient, effortless… and portable

With over 20 million FeNO or exhaled nitric oxide tests conducted worldwide, the NIOX VERO has always been the gold standard in asthma detection and management. The company behind it, Circassia, approached London-based Precipice Design to redesign their flagship FeNO kit to give it a better experience, and make it easy to operate and carry.

Tasked with the challenge of making the already popular NIOX VERO even better, Precipice immediately looked at tackling its form and its interface, making tweaks and upgrades that would add to the already advanced technology to make the NIOX VERO even better than before. The redesign saw an immediate relook at the form. The newer form boasted of a larger screen with a better, more detailed interface, the reduction of bezels to give it a high-end approach, and the inclusion of a simple handle to make the product easy to carry around. An important part of the FeNO testing kit, the mouthpiece, was moved to the side and given a cover/dock to conveniently rest in.

The interface was redesigned too, with a more visual approach. The “virtually wordless” UI helps the NIOX VERO work across countries and markets, providing an easy-to-understand visually-rich diagnosis with a minimal learning curve. The NIOX VERO even comes with three animation-driven testing modules to guide users to breathe into the machine correctly, so that the data captured is accurate, and the device conveniently stores and displays all past readings to offer convenience to the specialist using the machines.

Designer: Precipice Design

Designer: Precipice Design for Circassia

This magnetic nasal band helps you breathe easier, exercise better, and live healthier

While ‘mouth-breather’ has now found itself as a harmless, childish insult in cult-Netflix-series Stranger Things, breathing through one’s mouth is considered easier, but less healthy… especially during exercise. Breathing through one’s nose results in air making its way directly into one’s lungs, while the nose’s internal mechanisms trap dust and debris, making the air you inhale cleaner. It’s often considered a good practice to inhale through one’s nose, and exhale through the mouth, but not everyone is blessed with clear nasal pathways.

With as many as 6 patents (and 9 pending ones), Intake turns mouth-breathers into nose-breathers. Unlike those nose-strips that promise to work but fail to deliver on most accounts, Intake has a pretty straight-forward way of widening your nasal passages. Intake’s nose-breathing solution relies on two simple steps. Intake’s kits provide adhesive-strips with magnets on them that fasten to each side of your nose, right above the nostrils. A precursory alcohol-wipe makes sure the skin around your nose is free of dirt, dead skin-cells, or skin-oils that would cause the magnetic strips to fall off. The next step is fastening Intake’s nasal bridge across your nose. The relatively rigid bridge attracts the magnets towards it, pulling gently on your nostrils to widen them. With wider nasal pathways, it’s much easier to breathe through your nose rather than your mouth. Intake’s design solution is non-invasive, discreet, and works even through the sweatiest of workouts (and even in the rain)!

While mouth-breathing is an easier and faster way to get oxygen into your system, your mouth isn’t equipped with the same oxygen-delivery and microparticle-trapping mechanisms as your nose. Breathing solely through your mouth causes your mouth to dry up faster (making you thirsty often), while also increasing risks of chronic allergies and even breathing problems like asthma. Breathing through one’s mouth while asleep can even increase chances of sleep-apnea, while also causing halitosis, or bad breath. Intake’s sleek, barely-noticeable solution is perfect for both athletes as well as regular people. Its tiny design doesn’t obstruct your view, and even allows you to wear gear like masks, goggles, helmets, and glasses on top of it. Designed to make nose-breathing easy for everyone, Intake can be easily snapped on or off whenever needed, and can be used anywhere, in the gym, while skiing, swimming, jogging, riding, or even when sleeping!

Designers: Sebastian Fraye, Billy Hanke Jr. & Lucas Williamson

Click Here to Buy Now: $27 $40 (33% Off) Hurry, less than 72 hours left!

About Intake Breathing

The world’s first magnetic nasal band that opens your nasal passageways to their widest capacity, allowing you to experience full, deep breathing.

Key Benefits

Intake works by allowing you to breathe through your nose even at increased heart rates, unlocking a physiological process that helps your body build strength and increase resilience–even in the face of the most challenging training regimens. Because you’re breathing more efficiently, you’ll be performing more efficiently, whether you’re a hardcore athlete or someone who just wants to give their body the best edge it can get.

Left: Without Intake. Middle: With standard breathing strip. Right: With Intake.

The Intake Advantage

Traditional nasal strips can’t compare to the Intake Band. Intake opens your nasal passages far wider than nasal strips, stays on through sweaty exercise, and doesn’t collapse upon inhale.

What some of their early GEN 1 users have said.

Below: How Does It Work?

Step 1 – Clean each side of your nose with an included alcohol wipe to remove any dirt or oils from the skin.

Step 2 – Using the applicator, apply one adhesive tab to each nostril just above the pinch point. Press the edges of the tab into your skin.

Step 3 – Apply the Intake band over your nose. The magnetic ends of the band will “click” into the tabs, opening your nose.

Why Nose Breathing?

INCREASE NITRIC OXIDE – Nitric Oxide is formed in the nasal cavity, and it’s vital to your body’s function. It’s a vasodilator, which means it allows your blood vessels to relax so that blood flow increases and your body is able to deliver more oxygen to your muscles and organs. This means optimal endurance and stamina, and faster recovery.

BOOST COGNITIVE FUNCTION – Nasal breathing stimulates the amygdala and hippocampus, balancing your mood and improving short term memory and focus. It also stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is associated with feelings of centeredness and relaxation.

MAINTAIN HEALTH – Breathing exclusively through your nose protects your immune system in two ways: your nose filters particulates and humidifies the air reaching your lungs, which cuts down on inflammation, and the nitric oxide in your sinus cavity acts as an antimicrobial, helping to inhibit pathogen growth before it can enter your body.

Intake Sleep

Many of their test phase users have also used Intake for sleep, and have reported feeling more rested and energized upon waking. Deepen your sleep, cut down on snoring, and utilize your breathing like never before.

Click Here to Buy Now: $27 $40 (33% Off) Hurry, less than 72 hours left!

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