¶
Seeds and concepts¶
1 ~ Health + Wellness Monitoring 2 ~ Regenerative Education 3 ~ Redefining Convenience
BioSensing¶
What if we could communicate with our inner worlds, natural systems and environments? What if we could reimagine the interactions we have with our autonomous nervous system, or our microbiome?
In order to transform a system of individuality, the individual must first be transformed.
At the current moment, my perspective on regenerative design focuses on this direction. I believe that all other actions will just become admirable patches to provoke thought and make great things happen. Still, as long as the system runs its course and humanity egoistically continues to mistake richness for fools gold, we are doomed for failure. We must transform our entire perspective to save the planet and its billions of natural systems. Design, creation… it’s all worth anything if it makes you happy. This wicked attempt makes me happy.
On a more specific note, I’ve been curious about the Autonomous Nervous System, the Polyvagal Theory and the concept that perceived stimuli affects our bodies and physical health in a surprisingly explicit way. The vast network of nerves that innervate various organs and systems throughout the body are expressing, communicating and living. They can say when they are tense, fearful or anxious or express safety, relaxation and happiness. What if we listened?
I’ve also been thinking about the role of design for medical devices. I am sure that the futures of this field are exciting and portray revolutionary characteristics, yet, there are important aspects that are important to consider across this evolution and that I would like to explore. There are health “standards” that are unattainable since birth for some. A more holistic approach to health that moves towards what feels good from a nervous perspective could allow humans to make better choices for their health. Also, what are some ways in which devices can remove the impact of electromagnetic frequencies (EMF) for people that need to live with technology embedded for health purposes (i.e insulin pump, or CGM).
All that said, I’ve decided to begin a journey to design a biofeedback sensing device that measures and tracks physiological indicators associated with the different states of the nervous system. For purpose of simplicity, I will refer to this concept to BioSensing this point forward. I am aware that this is a complex task that requires vast resources and conditions that I do not posses, but I am ventured to create a raw prototype as a means to research through design. I would also like to open a door towards research, attention and action in the space of holistic approaches to health and wellbeing and to provide open sourced tools for humans to decide for healing, mindfulness, and collectivism.
Biofeedback: a technique to provide an individual with information about their bodily functions in order to help them regulate and improve their physiological responses. “A form of mind over matter. A technique to control pain and anxiety. (Philip Herbert, Biofeedback Book of Secrets)
There are several types of biofeedback, including Electromyography (EMG) biofeedback, Heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback, Respiration biofeedback, Skin conductance biofeedback, and Temperature biofeedback, each of which measures different aspects of the body’s physiology. The defined technique essentially consists of understanding physiological insights and learning how to control them. Although the end objective of BioSensing is not to control pain or anxiety, it can extract some of the best features from biofeedback to promote healing and wellness. The idea of the device is to collect real-time feedback on the activity of the nervous system to allow humans to understand how their body is responding to different activities, people, foods or environments, and make more informed decisions about how to care for themselves.
By tracking and understanding the activity of the nervous system, we can learn to identify patterns and triggers that lead to stress, tension, or other negative responses, and take steps to address them. For example, if we notice that skin conductance increases when we’re in a certain room or spending time with a certain person, we could make changes to their environment or relationships to improve our overall well-being. It could also help us understand how different types of settings, dynamics or environments affect our nervous system. For example, we may discover that working outdoors makes us feel safer and more relaxed, while working in a confined space could increase our alertness. In terms of food, nutrition and exercise, this device could help us understand how different types of diet regimens and activities affect our nervous system and wellbeing. We can then use this information to make more informed decisions about what we eat, what types of physical activities we engage in, and how we spend our time.
This is also a new way to approach health interpretation without idealizing perfect standards that are unattainable for some, and following what feels good for. In a world where this technology becomes accurate and can be a good predictor of nervous states or the ANS “mood”, with enough research, it could perhaps achieve a reliable comparison with a CGM and provide diabetes patients a more holistic approach to living with the need to sustain excellent wellbeing across daily life.
Another important aspect of this device is its ability to provide a new open-source perspective for research on the nervous system. Researchers in fields such as neuroscience, psychology, and medicine can use the data collected by these devices to gain a deeper understanding of how the nervous system functions and how it responds to different stimuli. It could even become a great tool for educators and for people to learn about the nervous system, mental health and regenerative behavior.
BioSensing showcases potential for a powerful tool for individuals to co-create well-being with our non-human life by providing us with a direct line of communication to our own nervous system, helping us understand how to better care for ourselves. It also contemplates what it means to design for regenerative futures since it empowers individuals to take a proactive and preventative approach to our own health and well-being.