Haptic Breath Pacing Apparatus with Variable Cycle Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing breath pacing apparatuses struggle to provide a haptically perceivable feature that allows users to easily follow respiration cycles, especially as the cycles lengthen, leading to a deterioration in the pacing effect due to decreased tactile stimulus.
Innovation Solution
A breath pacing apparatus with a haptic output unit that varies its perceivable feature, such as size, thickness, or shape, in a manner related to the length of respiration cycles, increasing the amplitude or magnitude of change per time unit, and potentially in a non-linear fashion, to enhance user perception of the respiration rhythm.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If the length of respiration cycles is increased to support relaxation, then the relaxation effect is improved, but the user's ability to feel the turning points and transitions in the haptic signal deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the haptic signal characteristics at different phases of the respiration cycle. Specifically, the haptic output unit provides enhanced tactile feedback at critical transition points (turning points between inhale and exhale phases) while maintaining appropriate feedback during steady-state phases. This localized enhancement of signal quality at critical moments allows users to easily detect transitions even during prolonged relaxation cycles, resolving the contradiction between cycle length and detectability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic action through the haptic output unit that generates rhythmic tactile signals synchronized with the respiration cycles. The haptic feedback follows a periodic pattern that mirrors the inhale-exhale rhythm, with deliberate modulation at transition points. This periodic reinforcement of the breathing rhythm through tactile feedback maintains user awareness of cycle transitions regardless of the overall cycle duration, enabling both long relaxation cycles and clear transition detection.
2Ease of operation
If the haptic output unit increases in size or thickness to enhance tactile stimulus, then the ease of operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the haptic output unit's physical characteristics variable rather than static. The haptic feedback mechanism dynamically adjusts its output characteristics (such as vibration intensity, pulse amplitude, or pressure variations) in real-time synchronization with the respiration cycle phases. This dynamic modulation provides strong tactile cues during transitions without requiring a permanently large or complex device structure, thus achieving ease of operation while controlling device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by modifying the haptic signal parameters (amplitude, frequency, duration, or intensity) according to the phase of the respiration cycle. The control unit adjusts these parameters to emphasize transition points between inhale and exhale phases. By changing the parameters of the haptic feedback rather than the physical size of the device, the system achieves enhanced user guidance without increasing device complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
AI summary
The invention relates to a breath pacing apparatus, comprising a haptic output unit with a variable haptically perceivable feature, said haptic output unit being provided to change said haptically perceivable feature periodically according to a sequence of desired respiration cycles, wherein a characteristic of the change of said haptically perceivable feature is related to the length of the respiration cycles. The invention is further related to a corresponding method for pacing the respiration of a person.