Washington: It is quite difficult to understand emotions but now with the help of a wrist band people can keep a tab on their feelings. Smart wearable technology that changes colour, heats up, squeezes or vibrates as your emotions are heightened has the potential to help people with affective disorders better control their feelings, suggests a new study.
Researchers from Lancaster University have worked with smart materials on wrist-worn prototypes that can aid people diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorders in monitoring their emotions. Wrist bands change colour depending upon the level of emotional arousal allows users to easily see or feel what is happening without having to refer to mobile or desktop devices.
“Knowing our emotions and how we can control them are complex skills that many people find difficult to master,” said Muhammad Umair, the study’s co-author.
Tests of the devices saw participants wearing the prototypes over the course of between eight and 16 hours, reporting between four and eight occasions each when it activated – during events such as playing games, working, having conversations, watching movies, laughing, relaxing and becoming scared.
A skin response sensor picked up changes in arousal – through galvanic skin response, which measures the electrical conductivity of the skin – and represented it through the various prototype designs. Those smart materials which were both instant and constant and which had a physical rather than visual output were most effective.