The Resonance Pod

Can breathing change your emotions?

Context

The pandemic forced many of our interactions to become digital. For some, the strain of this remote work has manifested in a disconnect between mind and body. The Resonance Pod reconnects people with the rhythms of their bodies, improving mental wellbeing through the power of breath.

 The Resonance Pod

Changing your breathing rhythm can shift your body from an active to a calm state. So, a slow breathing rhythm allows people to calm down. The pod is provided with different stimuli, such as light, vibrations, and sound. These stimuli pulse at a certain rhythm. Your breathing will adjust itself to the pulsations of the stimuli subconsciously and, therefore, change your breathing frequency.

Design Process

For people to follow the rhythm without thinking about it, the rhythm has to feel natural. With weekly prototypes and user tests, we adjusted the three different stimuli so the user feels so comfortable that the controlled guidance is almost unnoticeable. 

Implementation

The calming effect of this pod could be useful in the following four contexts; 1) helping people with mental disabilities to stabilise their moods, 2) reducing stress in office workers, 3) calming down patients in hospitals, 4) helping soldiers recover from traumatic events.