Create an emotional stress tracker.
Good afternoon, dear habrovchane!
In this post I will briefly describe the development of our team - Emvio emotional stress tracker . Now there are the first prototypes, and we would be very grateful for any feedback on the functions and consumer qualities of the future product.
')
In February, we plan to lay out the project on the Kickstarter platform. By itself, the product promises to be interesting (really hope so at least). Due to the fact that the trackers of emotional activity are not yet very common in the market, I will try to stop in more detail what it is and what it is for.
I'll start from afar. Once upon a time I read in the magazine “Young Technician” that you can imagine a person in the form of three entities: physical, emotional and intellectual. Accordingly, in a harmoniously developed personality, each of these components must be developed.
It's been 10 years since that moment. The rapid development of PC, network operating systems and the Internet spurred the development of our intelligence with you. The process continues to this day, the latest driver of the last time, apparently, can be considered the development of social networks.
Another 25 years have passed, and technical progress has reached the physical component. Now, each of us, having placed a gadget (a kind of “little trainer”) on the wrist, can easily keep track of its shape, without spending precious intellectual resources. I will not dwell in detail on the typical functionality of such devices, anyone can see a comparison of the most popular models here .
Then another couple of years passed, and a reliable and functional tracker of emotional activity has not yet appeared. True, some people have already begun to take steps in this direction (you can see here and here ). But before the wide application of the device in the masses, it is not yet reached. And that means everything is in our hands! And a year ago, a start-up was formed on the creation of a corresponding gadget.
On the basis of recent research in the field of emotional intelligence, a "reasonable person" would be more appropriate to consider "an emotional person." The degree of influence of emotions on the quality of our life is very large. It seems that even more than we ourselves realize this. You can read more about this in the books: this one and this one . Written very exciting.
According to the established opinion in the scientific community, the whole range of our emotional states can be described by a combination of several basic emotions. These basic emotions look most beautiful in the Kellerman-Plutchik model:
We choose on the basis of emotions, act on the basis of emotions, make important and not very decisions. Moreover, our health is very dependent on the emotions that we experience. Strictly speaking, our success in changing our physical and intellectual form depends largely on the motivation to change something in our habits and on the positive feedback we receive during the course. Those. essentially also depends on emotions.
Under the management of emotions, it is more commonly understood to manage the “negative” emotions (fear, anger, sadness). They are considered negative due to the fact that under their action we experience subjectively unpleasant sensations. These are the main “killers” of positive motivation and the destroyers of our social ties. And we decided to fight with them. To raise the level of human happiness, so to speak.
There is a widespread belief that it is impossible to control what you do not measure. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to find a reliable and most convenient method of detecting and (very desirable) quantitative measurement of emotions. Create a small wearable gadget that could be worn constantly. And the measured emotions should be shown to a person, while giving him an understanding of the optimal limits and suggesting ways to keep emotions within these limits. And it's done!
Under this simple plan in the fall of 2013, we found a private investor and things went.
Of course there are such methods. There are three varieties:
1. Self-diagnosis (questionnaires, scales).
2. Measuring the activity of the central nervous system or easier - brain activity (in fact - processing signals of brain activity).
3. Measurement of the ANS activity of physiological signals (pulse rate, change in skin resistance, pupil dilation, respiration rate, temperature).
Self-diagnosis is associated with the filling of special forms :
The idea of ​​self-diagnosis was abandoned immediately due to the bias of the data obtained. Also, they abandoned the idea of ​​using electroceleography due to the inconvenience of the implementation of this method in everyday life (although it did not bother some of them). So, we stopped at p. 3 - the detection of biosignals.
There are ways to measure discrete emotions (anger, fear, joy, sadness). The point is to measure as much physiological signals as possible (ECG, EEG, GSR, HR, breathing curve, skin temperature). The measured digitized signals are analyzed by an event detector, after which the events are divided by a certain algorithmic classifier into a series of emotions. For the system to work, it must be trained (in essence, set the conditions for the selection of events and the criteria for their classification). And then, based on learning to select events from signals, that is, by changing the shape of a signal, judge what kind of emotion a person has experienced.
It looks like this : the subject, pasted over with sensors, is presented with various emotional stimuli (for example, scenes from films with bright emotional overtones). They register biosignals synchronously with the emotional stimulus, and then give a questionnaire so that the subject himself marks out his emotions in time. Such a system after learning is able to recognize emotions with an accuracy of about 80%.
To measure emotions in the way described above in real life is rather difficult. Our goal is to create a miniature device that could be worn all day without noticing it. Therefore, registration of a large number of indicators had to be abandoned.
It was also not clear what to do with the variety of emotions. We could not comprehend the meaning of the measurement of the whole spectrum at once. Now, if we could find any one indicator that would reflect the emotional state in general! And oddly enough, this figure was found. And even everyone knows him.
Probably, each of us uses the word " stress " from time to time to denote his emotional state. In short, stress is not an emotion, but a physiological state of the whole organism. This is a kind of “biological afterburner” mode, which the body includes in emergency cases. At the same time, its first stage (stage of mobilization) is accompanied by objectively unpleasant emotions - fear or anger.
Stress is a very good thing for the time being, at its second stage (stage of resistance) it gives us extra strength to cope with some kind of trouble or solve a difficult task. But in his third stage (the stage of exhaustion), he begins to literally devour us from the inside. Proved effects of chronic stress are reduced immunity, problems with the gastrointestinal tract and disorders in cardiac activity.
External factors and circumstances that trigger a stress reaction and cause stress symptoms are called “stressors.”
Currently, of all countries, the problem of stress management is solved most extensively in the United States, where about 20% of the population receives recommendations on stress management from their attending physician. By the way, the Americans themselves consider such an indicator unsatisfactory.
As a rule, stress management becomes relevant for us when we are confronted with one or more symptoms of chronic stress. Under stress management can be understood any conscious and unconscious actions aimed at reducing the negative effects of stress symptoms. Stress management can be conscious or unconscious.
The main problem of unconscious ways of dealing with stress is that we can choose those that are bad for our physical health. Such as smoking, drinking alcohol, spending time watching TV or video games, overeating, procrastination, the habit of putting out a bad mood on others, etc. These actions can really blunt the symptoms of stress, but with constant use, they alone do significant harm.
For example, if we have acquired the habit of “seizing up” stress, this will have a bad effect on our figure, self-esteem, and well-being. And to fight this habit, supported by the effects of stress, becomes even more difficult. In this case, it would be more correct to say that it is not a person who controls stress, but stress controls a person, worsening his appearance, health, and relationships with others.
There are quite a few books on stress management . The basic principles are briefly and clearly described in this article . The basis of most techniques is the ability to manage stressors.
Therefore, the first step in dealing with stress is always to identify stressors - the awareness of exactly which actions of people or situations lead to the appearance of stress. To compile your individual list of stressors, it is recommended to start keeping a diary in which you need to note what exactly is causing you stress.
After the list of stressors is defined, you need to decide exactly what to do with each of them. We have 3 alternatives:
avoid exposure to a stressor, change that exposure, or change your attitude toward a stressor.
In addition to managing stressors, we can also learn more healthy ways to reduce stress symptoms. For example, to switch one's activity from work to family, plan time better, master meditation or yoga, eat right, devote more time to hobbies and hobbies.
The very concept of stress has become well known, and methods of managing them are easily accessible. But chronic stress continues to be a problem. It reduces the quality of our lives and causes many diseases.
Why it happens? What prevents us from reducing the amount of stress in our lives? According to a study by the American Psychological Association in 2012 , more than half of respondents believe that it is very important to manage stress (64%), eat right (60%) and be physically active (57%). But of these, only 37% believe that they manage stress successfully, 35% that they eat properly and 33% admit that they are physically active enough. The barriers are: for 31% - lack of willpower , for 22% - lack of time, for 16% - high cost of changes, for 12% - high level of stress (!).
Those. of those who are interested in changing their lifestyle, about half cannot realize these changes.
There are several objective reasons that make it difficult to practice stress management techniques. First, we need additional time to read and understand the material. And then - willpower and organization, to begin to regularly apply knowledge in practice. This is an additional limitation.
And an important reason in our opinion is that the magnitude we are trying to control is not tangible. We are forced to estimate the magnitude of stress on the basis of our own subjective feelings. Thus, the basic principle of control is violated - we are trying to control a quantity that we do not measure.
It is from these considerations that Emvio appeared - the first smart watches that are designed to measure and manage stress. Below are their main features.
Emvio continuously measures stress levels, heart rate, and physical activity throughout the day. The stress level is calculated on a scale from 1 (minimum stress) to 10 (maximum stress) based on heart rate variability. Each of the stress levels corresponds to a smiley face on the Emvio screen. For more convenience, on the front panel of the Emvio under the screen is a stress indicator, which lights up in green, yellow or red, depending on what zone the stress level is.
The watch also contains a built-in three-coordinate accelerometer and can be used as a tracker of physical activity. All measured indicators can be seen at any time by clicking on one of the touch buttons (located on the sides of the screen). If the stress goes from the green to the yellow or red, the device will alert by vibration.
Thanks to Emvio it will be possible to limit the level of stress, guided by the measurement results. In addition, by receiving information about the level of stress in real time, you can correlate your own emotional state with events around you. Those. You can automatically select individual stressors and even get an idea of ​​the strength of their impact.
Emvio allows you to manage stress at a higher quality level, if used in conjunction with a smartphone.
The main page of the application will display the current level of stress, key indicators and statistics of the day (heart rate, number of steps, calories burned). You can also see the statistics for all the time during which Emvio is on the wrist.
The logic of work is this: when the stress level goes from the yellow zone to the red one or vice versa, the Emvio watch vibrates and the smartphone displays a push notification. This will allow you to remember what caused the stress or allowed to get rid of it. Each event saved in this way can be supplemented with a photo or voice tag. And then share the saved events with friends through social networks. If the level of stress goes into the “red” zone, the app suggests tips on reducing stress.
The Emvio App automatically generates a unique rating of stressors and antistressors, eliminating the need to manually keep a stress diary. It also gives advice on reducing stress levels when it is required by an emotional state.
Our team in collaboration with the design studio Simplicity Design (Italy), has created several design options. You can choose from several options of materials, colors and sizes that more closely match your physique and lifestyle.
Emvio is primarily a watch. The basic version will be made of high-quality plastic with a glossy finish. In Emvio Elite we want to make the cases from chrome steel. The screen of both versions will be made of scratch-resistant glass. It displays information only after clicking on any of the touch buttons on its edges. This important feature allows Emvio to communicate your stress level only to the user, and not to make it accessible to others.
Soon it will not be necessary to become an expert in stress management to begin the fight against stress. We have tried to create a gadget with which you can achieve results without spending time and stress of intellectual resources. Emvio should become a personal assistant for its owner, giving signals and recommendations only in those moments when it is necessary.
Now we are completing the development of Emvio. In February 2015, the launch of a campaign on the Kickstarter platform is planned. We invite everyone to subscribe to our newsletter and follow the project updates!
Sincerely, Darta Systems Team.
In this post I will briefly describe the development of our team - Emvio emotional stress tracker . Now there are the first prototypes, and we would be very grateful for any feedback on the functions and consumer qualities of the future product.
')
In February, we plan to lay out the project on the Kickstarter platform. By itself, the product promises to be interesting (really hope so at least). Due to the fact that the trackers of emotional activity are not yet very common in the market, I will try to stop in more detail what it is and what it is for.
Introduction
I'll start from afar. Once upon a time I read in the magazine “Young Technician” that you can imagine a person in the form of three entities: physical, emotional and intellectual. Accordingly, in a harmoniously developed personality, each of these components must be developed.
It's been 10 years since that moment. The rapid development of PC, network operating systems and the Internet spurred the development of our intelligence with you. The process continues to this day, the latest driver of the last time, apparently, can be considered the development of social networks.
Another 25 years have passed, and technical progress has reached the physical component. Now, each of us, having placed a gadget (a kind of “little trainer”) on the wrist, can easily keep track of its shape, without spending precious intellectual resources. I will not dwell in detail on the typical functionality of such devices, anyone can see a comparison of the most popular models here .
Then another couple of years passed, and a reliable and functional tracker of emotional activity has not yet appeared. True, some people have already begun to take steps in this direction (you can see here and here ). But before the wide application of the device in the masses, it is not yet reached. And that means everything is in our hands! And a year ago, a start-up was formed on the creation of a corresponding gadget.
What are the emotions
On the basis of recent research in the field of emotional intelligence, a "reasonable person" would be more appropriate to consider "an emotional person." The degree of influence of emotions on the quality of our life is very large. It seems that even more than we ourselves realize this. You can read more about this in the books: this one and this one . Written very exciting.
According to the established opinion in the scientific community, the whole range of our emotional states can be described by a combination of several basic emotions. These basic emotions look most beautiful in the Kellerman-Plutchik model:
We choose on the basis of emotions, act on the basis of emotions, make important and not very decisions. Moreover, our health is very dependent on the emotions that we experience. Strictly speaking, our success in changing our physical and intellectual form depends largely on the motivation to change something in our habits and on the positive feedback we receive during the course. Those. essentially also depends on emotions.
Under the management of emotions, it is more commonly understood to manage the “negative” emotions (fear, anger, sadness). They are considered negative due to the fact that under their action we experience subjectively unpleasant sensations. These are the main “killers” of positive motivation and the destroyers of our social ties. And we decided to fight with them. To raise the level of human happiness, so to speak.
How to manage emotions?
There is a widespread belief that it is impossible to control what you do not measure. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to find a reliable and most convenient method of detecting and (very desirable) quantitative measurement of emotions. Create a small wearable gadget that could be worn constantly. And the measured emotions should be shown to a person, while giving him an understanding of the optimal limits and suggesting ways to keep emotions within these limits. And it's done!
Under this simple plan in the fall of 2013, we found a private investor and things went.
How to measure emotions?
Of course there are such methods. There are three varieties:
1. Self-diagnosis (questionnaires, scales).
2. Measuring the activity of the central nervous system or easier - brain activity (in fact - processing signals of brain activity).
3. Measurement of the ANS activity of physiological signals (pulse rate, change in skin resistance, pupil dilation, respiration rate, temperature).
Self-diagnosis is associated with the filling of special forms :
The idea of ​​self-diagnosis was abandoned immediately due to the bias of the data obtained. Also, they abandoned the idea of ​​using electroceleography due to the inconvenience of the implementation of this method in everyday life (although it did not bother some of them). So, we stopped at p. 3 - the detection of biosignals.
There are ways to measure discrete emotions (anger, fear, joy, sadness). The point is to measure as much physiological signals as possible (ECG, EEG, GSR, HR, breathing curve, skin temperature). The measured digitized signals are analyzed by an event detector, after which the events are divided by a certain algorithmic classifier into a series of emotions. For the system to work, it must be trained (in essence, set the conditions for the selection of events and the criteria for their classification). And then, based on learning to select events from signals, that is, by changing the shape of a signal, judge what kind of emotion a person has experienced.
It looks like this : the subject, pasted over with sensors, is presented with various emotional stimuli (for example, scenes from films with bright emotional overtones). They register biosignals synchronously with the emotional stimulus, and then give a questionnaire so that the subject himself marks out his emotions in time. Such a system after learning is able to recognize emotions with an accuracy of about 80%.
What exactly are we going to measure? And most importantly - what we will not
To measure emotions in the way described above in real life is rather difficult. Our goal is to create a miniature device that could be worn all day without noticing it. Therefore, registration of a large number of indicators had to be abandoned.
It was also not clear what to do with the variety of emotions. We could not comprehend the meaning of the measurement of the whole spectrum at once. Now, if we could find any one indicator that would reflect the emotional state in general! And oddly enough, this figure was found. And even everyone knows him.
Emotional stress
Probably, each of us uses the word " stress " from time to time to denote his emotional state. In short, stress is not an emotion, but a physiological state of the whole organism. This is a kind of “biological afterburner” mode, which the body includes in emergency cases. At the same time, its first stage (stage of mobilization) is accompanied by objectively unpleasant emotions - fear or anger.
Stress is a very good thing for the time being, at its second stage (stage of resistance) it gives us extra strength to cope with some kind of trouble or solve a difficult task. But in his third stage (the stage of exhaustion), he begins to literally devour us from the inside. Proved effects of chronic stress are reduced immunity, problems with the gastrointestinal tract and disorders in cardiac activity.
External factors and circumstances that trigger a stress reaction and cause stress symptoms are called “stressors.”
Currently, of all countries, the problem of stress management is solved most extensively in the United States, where about 20% of the population receives recommendations on stress management from their attending physician. By the way, the Americans themselves consider such an indicator unsatisfactory.
Stress management
As a rule, stress management becomes relevant for us when we are confronted with one or more symptoms of chronic stress. Under stress management can be understood any conscious and unconscious actions aimed at reducing the negative effects of stress symptoms. Stress management can be conscious or unconscious.
Unconscious stress management
The main problem of unconscious ways of dealing with stress is that we can choose those that are bad for our physical health. Such as smoking, drinking alcohol, spending time watching TV or video games, overeating, procrastination, the habit of putting out a bad mood on others, etc. These actions can really blunt the symptoms of stress, but with constant use, they alone do significant harm.
For example, if we have acquired the habit of “seizing up” stress, this will have a bad effect on our figure, self-esteem, and well-being. And to fight this habit, supported by the effects of stress, becomes even more difficult. In this case, it would be more correct to say that it is not a person who controls stress, but stress controls a person, worsening his appearance, health, and relationships with others.
Conscious stress management
There are quite a few books on stress management . The basic principles are briefly and clearly described in this article . The basis of most techniques is the ability to manage stressors.
Therefore, the first step in dealing with stress is always to identify stressors - the awareness of exactly which actions of people or situations lead to the appearance of stress. To compile your individual list of stressors, it is recommended to start keeping a diary in which you need to note what exactly is causing you stress.
After the list of stressors is defined, you need to decide exactly what to do with each of them. We have 3 alternatives:
avoid exposure to a stressor, change that exposure, or change your attitude toward a stressor.
In addition to managing stressors, we can also learn more healthy ways to reduce stress symptoms. For example, to switch one's activity from work to family, plan time better, master meditation or yoga, eat right, devote more time to hobbies and hobbies.
What prevents us from successfully managing stress
The very concept of stress has become well known, and methods of managing them are easily accessible. But chronic stress continues to be a problem. It reduces the quality of our lives and causes many diseases.
Why it happens? What prevents us from reducing the amount of stress in our lives? According to a study by the American Psychological Association in 2012 , more than half of respondents believe that it is very important to manage stress (64%), eat right (60%) and be physically active (57%). But of these, only 37% believe that they manage stress successfully, 35% that they eat properly and 33% admit that they are physically active enough. The barriers are: for 31% - lack of willpower , for 22% - lack of time, for 16% - high cost of changes, for 12% - high level of stress (!).
Those. of those who are interested in changing their lifestyle, about half cannot realize these changes.
There are several objective reasons that make it difficult to practice stress management techniques. First, we need additional time to read and understand the material. And then - willpower and organization, to begin to regularly apply knowledge in practice. This is an additional limitation.
And an important reason in our opinion is that the magnitude we are trying to control is not tangible. We are forced to estimate the magnitude of stress on the basis of our own subjective feelings. Thus, the basic principle of control is violated - we are trying to control a quantity that we do not measure.
Measurement based stress management
It is from these considerations that Emvio appeared - the first smart watches that are designed to measure and manage stress. Below are their main features.
Emvio continuously measures stress levels, heart rate, and physical activity throughout the day. The stress level is calculated on a scale from 1 (minimum stress) to 10 (maximum stress) based on heart rate variability. Each of the stress levels corresponds to a smiley face on the Emvio screen. For more convenience, on the front panel of the Emvio under the screen is a stress indicator, which lights up in green, yellow or red, depending on what zone the stress level is.
The watch also contains a built-in three-coordinate accelerometer and can be used as a tracker of physical activity. All measured indicators can be seen at any time by clicking on one of the touch buttons (located on the sides of the screen). If the stress goes from the green to the yellow or red, the device will alert by vibration.
Thanks to Emvio it will be possible to limit the level of stress, guided by the measurement results. In addition, by receiving information about the level of stress in real time, you can correlate your own emotional state with events around you. Those. You can automatically select individual stressors and even get an idea of ​​the strength of their impact.
Let Stress Management Be Comfortable
Emvio allows you to manage stress at a higher quality level, if used in conjunction with a smartphone.
The main page of the application will display the current level of stress, key indicators and statistics of the day (heart rate, number of steps, calories burned). You can also see the statistics for all the time during which Emvio is on the wrist.
The logic of work is this: when the stress level goes from the yellow zone to the red one or vice versa, the Emvio watch vibrates and the smartphone displays a push notification. This will allow you to remember what caused the stress or allowed to get rid of it. Each event saved in this way can be supplemented with a photo or voice tag. And then share the saved events with friends through social networks. If the level of stress goes into the “red” zone, the app suggests tips on reducing stress.
The Emvio App automatically generates a unique rating of stressors and antistressors, eliminating the need to manually keep a stress diary. It also gives advice on reducing stress levels when it is required by an emotional state.
Design and modification
Our team in collaboration with the design studio Simplicity Design (Italy), has created several design options. You can choose from several options of materials, colors and sizes that more closely match your physique and lifestyle.
Emvio is primarily a watch. The basic version will be made of high-quality plastic with a glossy finish. In Emvio Elite we want to make the cases from chrome steel. The screen of both versions will be made of scratch-resistant glass. It displays information only after clicking on any of the touch buttons on its edges. This important feature allows Emvio to communicate your stress level only to the user, and not to make it accessible to others.
Stress Management with Emvio
Soon it will not be necessary to become an expert in stress management to begin the fight against stress. We have tried to create a gadget with which you can achieve results without spending time and stress of intellectual resources. Emvio should become a personal assistant for its owner, giving signals and recommendations only in those moments when it is necessary.
Keep up to date with pre-order launch
Now we are completing the development of Emvio. In February 2015, the launch of a campaign on the Kickstarter platform is planned. We invite everyone to subscribe to our newsletter and follow the project updates!
Sincerely, Darta Systems Team.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/246509/
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