AmbientBreath

Abstract

To promote calm breathing inside a car, we designed a just-in-time breathing intervention stimulated by multi-sensory feedback and evaluated its efficacy in a driving simulator. Efficacy was measured via reduction in breathing rate as well as by user acceptance and driving safety measures. Drivers were first exposed to demonstrations of three kinds of ambient feedback designed to stimulate a goal breathing rate: (1) auditory (rhythmic background noise), (2) synchronized modulation of wind (dashboard fans modulating air pointed toward the driver) together with auditory, or (3) synchronized visual (ambient lights) together with auditory. After choosing one preference from these three, each driver engaged in a challenging driving task in a car simulator, where the ambient stimulation was triggered when their breathing exceeded a goal rate adapted to their personal baseline. Two user studies were conducted in a car simulator involving respectively 23 and 31 participants. The studies include both manual and autonomous driving scenarios to evaluate drivers' engagement in the intervention under different cognitive loads. The most frequently selected stimulation was the combined auditory and wind modalities. Measures of changes in breathing rate show that the participants were able to successfully engage in the breathing intervention; however, several factors from the driving context appear to have an impact on when the intervention is or is not effective.

The Effects of Cognitive Training on Driving Performance

“…Such simulators are wellvalidated tools, extensively employed to probe driver behavior and gauge driving performance across a spectrum of scenarios (Godley et al, 2002;Shechtman et al, 2009;Yan et al, 2008). Notably, multiple studies have harnessed the capabilities of the Simumak Simescar simulator, often using its infraction metrics as indicators of driving safety, further highlighting its efficacy in dissecting driving behaviors (Lee et al, 2021;Zepf, El Haouij, Lee, et al, 2020;Zepf, El Haouij, Minker, et al, 2020). This simulator provided a realistic driving experience, allowing participants to navigate through an urban driving route spanning 3.7 km (Figure 1).…”

Emotion-Aware In-Car Feedback: A Comparative Study

“…Expanding upon the groundwork of emotion detection, researchers have investigated feedback mechanisms tailored to drivers and passengers based on detected emotional states. Fakhrhosseini et al explored the use of music to mitigate angry driving [32], and Ambient Breath explored just-in-time breathing intervention with auditory, wind, and visual feedback [33]. Balters et al performed an on-road study of a haptic seat for guided breathing exercises in a car [34].…”

Characterizing affiliative touch in humans and its role in advancing haptic design

“…In other forms of affective haptic design, 87 common configurations for self-regulatory devices include robotic companions, wearables (e.g., smart watch, smart sleeve jackets), and objects (e.g., chair, cushion, plushie, fidget-spinner) chosen for ease of adaptation to a user's day-to-day practices and contextual use. 102,103 Often these applications use closed-loop regulation processes wherein the haptic stimulus changes are triggered or modulated based on the user's physiological state 98,104 or touch interaction. 105,106 The physiological state in turn is estimated by sensors that are embedded in the physical object of interaction or worn by participants.…”