Calmi Ring
The wearable device allows graduate students and working professionals undergoing symptoms of anxiety to manage their anxiety in a public situation.
Group URL: https://www.notion.so/Calmi-Ring-ad8e4dee5a794da48dda0e5ad4bdde33?pvs=4
Physical Prototype
Connected App Prototype
About
Research
Ideate
Prototype
This was a 12-week design project in the fall of 2023 for my Pervasive Interaction Design class at UMich. We were tasked to focus on designing physical prototypes and interactive applications for emerging mobile and context-aware technologies. The project aims to help us learn the Internet of Things (IoT), UX research methods, and the basics of programming IoT devices with microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators.
Research
Contextual Inquiry
In the first milestone, our team developed 80 concepts for pervasive interface design, honing in on engaging technology for mobile and context-aware applications. We chose three target user groups: those with public anxiety, car owners, and home medication managers. M1's goal was to identify user groups and issue statements, and as a project manager, I'm leading the next steps.
For the next stage, we've chosen to address public anxiety as our product opportunity. This decision aligns with our interests as graduate students, allowing for meaningful and easily accessible research.
Diary Study
Every day, for less than five minutes before bed, participants in the diary study record their feelings and coping mechanisms. Finding patterns and themes requires this qualitative data. The answers will help us better understand and manage anxiety attacks in public areas.
Those are 2 examples of diary studies about our findings. In the first survey example, I found out that most participants felt nervous when they got up in the morning.
From the second example, I figured social interactions are what causes anxiety in users in public spaces.
Survey
To support and quantify the qualitative findings from the accompanying diary study, we planned to get quantitative data from the survey method.
There are 2 example surveys about our findings. In the first survey example, I found out that support from friends or family and having a nice sleep are the most common coping mechanisms for anxiety in public spaces.
In the second survey example, I found nervousness is the most common engagement in social interactions in public space
Persona
We created the main character Sophia to comprehend the target audience.
User Empathy Map
We developed a user empathy map to better understand Sophia's feelings, thinking, hearing, seeing, saying, and doing.
Journey Map
We crafted a journey map to help envision Sophia's path through social anxiety management.
User Enactments
User feedback drove Smart Ring enhancements, shifting focus from anxiety alerts to proactive anxiety management for graduate students. Unique features, including customizable settings, stress-inducing vibrations, and improved visibility/functionality, were refined through iterative feedback. Selection was based on feasibility and user priorities.
Ideate
High-Level Architecture and Components
I created this High-Level Architecture diagram to ideate what this smart ring looks like.
Introducing "Calmi Ring," an IoT-enabled wearable detecting and managing anxiety. Sensors transmit real-time data to a cloud server, analyzed for physiological indicators. Alerts are sent to a computer hub and mobile app, offering comprehensive support, data visualization, and customizable haptic reminders for anxiety management.
Based on the High-Level Architecture graphic, I designed the key features:
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Customization/Personalization: Tailor the smart ring's reactions (color, text, sound, vibration) through an intuitive mobile app for a personalized user experience.
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Silent Mode: Discreetly use the ring in public with no visible alerts, preserving privacy. Activate via smartphone app or pre-programmed motion.
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Stress-Reducing Feedback: Choose calming visuals or self-encouraging phrases to counteract stress-inducing vibrations. Customizable feedback options are available in the mobile app.
Storyboard
Based on our research on Higher architecture maps and key features, I mapped out a storyboard to identify the issues our potential target user is facing, the problem we are attempting to solve, and the possible benefit our smart ring could offer.
Prototype
Ring Design
The digital ring prototype was developed by using hand sketches and Figma
Ring Prototype
A breadboard was used to build the functional components during the prototype development phase. The prototype's technological features were demonstrated by lights that changed color in response to the user's pulse to show anxiety levels visually. An app was utilized to simulate real-time anxiety tracking, and a Wizard of Oz technique was employed to expedite the building of the prototype by allowing manual light color change. The prototype successfully demonstrated the integration of technology, sensors, and user interaction, resulting in a practical solution for treating anxiety in public spaces.
We propose that the technological device has lights that display the anxiety level by monitoring the user's pulse.
Blue - neutrality
Green - calmness
Red - anxiety or nervous
Connected Application Prototype
We drafted up the connected app interfaces below that would be utilized in our product video demonstration. It includes processes such as onboarding, customizing the ring notifications, checking data and recommended activities, and silent mode used for disabling ring notifications.
Users can pair the ring with the mobile device automatically when signing in.
Users can check the ring data through the app, and be recommended some activities to relieve nervousness.
The user could also disable/enable ring notifications by using the silent mode feature.
Reflection
Limitations:
Looking back at the creation of the Smart Anxiety Management Ring and the accompanying mobile app, the main drawback is that the prototype was only medium-fidelity. Due to limitations in terms of time, technological accessibility, and the requirement for preliminary testing, fully functional functionalities were not able to be implemented, therefore simulated interactions were utilized instead. The depth of user feedback and the capacity to thoroughly verify the efficacy of stress-detection techniques may be impacted by this constraint. The physical prototype and simulated app interface will be iteratively improved in the next stages in response to user testing and feedback sessions.
Next Step:
Developing sophisticated stress-detection techniques and optimizing the design of the system to resolve any found drawbacks would be essential to achieving a complete and user-friendly Smart Anxiety Management Ring. The development process provided insightful information on the difficulties in striking a balance between usability, feasibility, and functionality. It has also highlighted the significance of ongoing improvement to satisfy user needs and resolve new problems.