Go-with-the-Flow: Tracking, Analysis and Sonification of Movement and Breathing to Build Confidence in Activity Despite Chronic Pain

Abstract

Chronic (persistent) pain (CP) affects 1 in 10 adults; clinical resources are insufficient, and anxiety about activity restricts lives. Technological aids monitor activity but lack necessary psychological support. This article proposes a new sonification framework, Go-with-the-Flow, informed by physiotherapists and people with CP. The framework proposes articulation of user-defined sonified exercise spaces (SESs) tailored to psychological needs and physical capabilities that enhance body and movement awareness to rebuild confidence in physical activity. A smartphone-based wearable device and a Kinect-based device were designed based on the framework to track movement and breathing and sonify them during physical activity. In control studies conducted to evaluate the sonification strategies, people with CP reported increased performance, motivation, awareness of movement, and relaxation with sound feedback. Home studies, a focus group, and a survey of CP patients conducted at the end of a hospital pain management session provided an in-depth understanding of how different aspects of the SESs and their calibration can facilitate self-directed rehabilitation and how the wearable version of the device can facilitate transfer of gains from exercise to feared or demanding activities in real life. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings on the design of technology for physical rehabilitation

Musically Informed Sonification for Chronic Pain Rehabilitation

“…Request permissions from permissions@acm.org. CHI' 16 should continue (unstable) and points of resolution where the music feels concluded (stable) [1]. For example, in a pop song there may be a build in tension before the chorus, partly achieved through aspects of musical instability and which will often become resolved at the end of the chorus.…”

“…Sound and visual feedback for rehabilitation has been used to provide rewards as it enhances the perception of moving (self-efficacy) [16,24], enables a better control of the body with respect to trajectories/targets [25] and shifts the attention away from pain [9,16]. Typically, the achievement of targets is rewarded through changes in the sonification, e.g., the ending of sound beyond the target, dynamically changing sound (increasing tone scales) to indicate progression [25,16].…”

“…Typically, the achievement of targets is rewarded through changes in the sonification, e.g., the ending of sound beyond the target, dynamically changing sound (increasing tone scales) to indicate progression [25,16]. Deviations from the set targets (e.g., going beyond it) are signalled by an alteration of the sound, by stopping or by an auditory alert to signal wrong-doing [16,24].…”

Feasibility and Acceptability of Mobile Phone–Based Auto-Personalized Physical Activity Recommendations for Chronic Pain Self-Management: Pilot Study on Adults (Preprint)

“…It was also found that introduction of new exercise tasks was successful only if small changes were made to current daily activities. Other studies advocated a shift of attention strategy [54] as well as focusing on pleasurable activities [55]. These studies suggest the strong need to base any recommendation system on the personal preferences and routine behavior of each individual.…”

Application of Kinect Technology in Blind Aerobics Learning

“…The specific test equipment is to integrate hand gesture and voice into the ARMAR II and III robotic platform to establish a natural human-computer interaction system. Researchers at the University of Dublin, including Han [9], designed speech recognition, sight recognition, and face recognition in the Lego robot platform in order to enhance the naturalness of humancomputer interaction.…”