Friday, January 17, 2025

Paced Breathing in Augmented Reality

 


I believe that paced breathing cues that help us breathe fully and at long intervals will be especially helpful in augmented reality (AR). For those who don’t know, augmented reality usually takes the form of glasses or a visor that overlays digital content onto real-life environments. So you can imagine wearing these glasses and having a little icon in the corner helping you to pace and optimize your breathing pattern. But first, what is paced breathing?

Paced breathing apps also known as breath metronomes are a therapeutic modality designed to guide users to breathe deeply and slowly. The core functionality centers around a visual indicator that rises and falls, setting the pace for inhalation and exhalation. This simple yet effective mechanism helps users achieve proper diaphragmatic breathing technique, extend exhalation duration for enhanced relaxation, and develop mindful breathing habits. I usually recommend that a beginner set their app for 5 second inhalations and 7 second exhalations so that they can teach their diaphragm to contract slowly and expansively. Try breathing this way, a few minutes of this can lead to noticeable relaxation. I wrote a whole book explaining why this is helpful which can be read for free at programpeace.com. I also have a free paced breathing app called Program Peace that is available on iPhone and Android. I outline its features and settings here:

https://www.observedimpulse.com/2022/08/try-free-program-peace-paced-breathing.html


However, the functionality and ease of use would be improved in AR. In fact, I think breathing guidance could be a widely used feature in AR in the not-so-distant future. This is because augmented reality platforms may enhance the effectiveness of guided breathing exercises and create an immersive, hands-free experience that seamlessly integrates into users' natural field of vision.

I use the Program Peace app daily, but I often must find a way to set up or situate my phone. An AR implementation removes the need to focus on a separate screen, allowing users to maintain their natural posture and gaze while performing breathing exercises. The visual guide could be positioned at a comfortable distance and height in the user's field of view, creating a more natural and less distracting experience. Unlike traditional mobile or desktop applications, an AR version would allow users to maintain awareness of their surroundings. This makes the application more versatile and suitable for use in various settings, from office environments to outdoor spaces. The AR implementation eliminates the need to hold, place, or interact with a physical device, allowing users to continue with other activities where handling a device would be impractical including during meditation or yoga.

Unlike a device that may not be touching the body, an AR app would have access to biometric data. It could use a microphone or use gesture recognition to monitor breathing. It could also integrate with wearable devices (like smartwatches) to monitor heart rate or oxygen levels and display real-time metrics in AR. This would allow the system to determine the user’s current breathing dynamics and attempt to gradually bring them in line with a more healthy rhythm unlike modern apps that attempt to force the user into a rigid breathing rate. It’s recommendations for breathing rate could also adaptively scale to match the user’s activities as heart and breathing rate increase due to external demands.

Gesture recognition cameras in the AR glasses could also help recognize suboptimal postures that stifle the diaphragm and full inhalations. Thus, the app could coach users to adopt optimal breathing postures, such as sitting upright and relaxing their shoulders, by providing visual posture corrections or reminders. Thus, enhanced awareness of body positioning could help users achieve deeper, more effective breathing.

I don’t expect that a small bar in the corner of the screen would interfere with depth cues or environmental awareness and many people could see it as a helpful addition to their AR’s heads up display (HUD). The visual design should be optimized for high contrast allowing visibility in different lighting conditions. It should also adapt to the lighting (bright vs. dim) and auditory (loud vs quiet) conditions of the environment. Minimalistic design elements could help prevent clutter in the AR space when only the rate functionality is being used. But then the app could be expanded by selecting an icon so that the user can use other app features such as tracking their data, and using other options. The rate and other settings could be changed by the user using voice or gaze-based controls. The app should also include session duration tracking, breath pattern analysis, progress monitoring and integration with other health and wellness platforms.

The experience could be gamified, offering AR breathing exercises with goal-oriented challenges (e.g., maintaining a steady breathing pattern for a set duration). Rather than being a 2D experience the metronome could be rendered differently to each eye creating a soothing 3D experience such as an expanding the contracting sphere that breathes with the user. It could also support shared, multiuser AR spaces where one could breathe in sync with friends, family, or a community for an online social wellness experience. Also using multi-sensory inputs (visual, auditory, and tactile vibration via a wearable) could create a more profound calming effect. Because AR provides a multi-sensory experience, it could help users disconnect from their immediate environment, creating a deeper sense of presence and relaxation. Furthermore, choosing customizable environments, such as a serene forest, flowing waterfalls, or even floating in space, could make the experience feel more engaging and meditative.

As far as biometrics is concerned, there are lots of options. AR eye tracking could be used to monitor gaze direction which could help the system provide real-time feedback if the user’s focus strays from the breathing guide for too long or to help adapt visuals or prompts based on where the user is looking. Eye tracking could also be used to measure pupil dilation and blink rate. Because these are correlated with stress, they could be used to make tailored breathing adjustments. Many AR glasses are capable of tracking facial expressions which could also be used to monitor stress. A paired wearable like a watch could keep track of heart rate variability (HRV) skin conductance (galvanic skin response), and body temperature, additional key markers of stress. Information about breathing rate and oxygen saturation (SpO2) could help the system determine if the user is hyperventilating or breathing too shallowly.

Overall, porting a breath metronome application to AR could represent a significant advancement in breathing exercise technology. The AR implementation addresses several limitations of traditional screen-based applications while introducing new possibilities for user interaction and feature enhancement. The hands-free, immersive nature of AR makes it an ideal platform for this type of wellness application, potentially increasing user engagement and exercise effectiveness.

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