ShapeBand: Design of a Shape-Changing Wristband with Soft Materials and Physiological Sensors for Anxiety Regulation

We introduce ShapeBand, a new shape-changing wristband designed for exploring multisensory and interactive anxiety regulation with soft materials and physiological sensing. Our approach takes a core principle of self-help psychotherapeutic intervention, aiming to help users to recognize anxiety trig...

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Main Authors: Yanting Liu, Zihan Xu, Ben Oldfrey, Youngjun Cho
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Information
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/2/101
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author Yanting Liu
Zihan Xu
Ben Oldfrey
Youngjun Cho
author_facet Yanting Liu
Zihan Xu
Ben Oldfrey
Youngjun Cho
author_sort Yanting Liu
collection DOAJ
description We introduce ShapeBand, a new shape-changing wristband designed for exploring multisensory and interactive anxiety regulation with soft materials and physiological sensing. Our approach takes a core principle of self-help psychotherapeutic intervention, aiming to help users to recognize anxiety triggers and engage in regulation with attentional distraction. We conducted user-centered design activities to iteratively refine our design requirements and delve into users’ rich experiences, preferences, and feelings. With ShapeBand, we explored bidirectional and dynamic interaction flow in anxiety regulation and subjective factors influencing its use. Our findings suggest that integrating both active and passive modulations can significantly enhance user engagement for effective anxiety intervention. Further, different interactions, characterized by dynamic alterations in bubbles and water flow in the ShapeBand, can provide users with a gamified experience and convey more potent effects. This study provides valuable insights into the future design of tangible anxiety regulation interfaces that can be tailored to subjective feelings and individual needs.
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spelling doaj-art-b931e8077280481abb242b9cbb2ed5572025-08-20T02:44:32ZengMDPI AGInformation2078-24892025-02-0116210110.3390/info16020101ShapeBand: Design of a Shape-Changing Wristband with Soft Materials and Physiological Sensors for Anxiety RegulationYanting Liu0Zihan Xu1Ben Oldfrey2Youngjun Cho3Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UKDepartment of Computer Science, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UKDepartment of Computer Science, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UKDepartment of Computer Science, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UKWe introduce ShapeBand, a new shape-changing wristband designed for exploring multisensory and interactive anxiety regulation with soft materials and physiological sensing. Our approach takes a core principle of self-help psychotherapeutic intervention, aiming to help users to recognize anxiety triggers and engage in regulation with attentional distraction. We conducted user-centered design activities to iteratively refine our design requirements and delve into users’ rich experiences, preferences, and feelings. With ShapeBand, we explored bidirectional and dynamic interaction flow in anxiety regulation and subjective factors influencing its use. Our findings suggest that integrating both active and passive modulations can significantly enhance user engagement for effective anxiety intervention. Further, different interactions, characterized by dynamic alterations in bubbles and water flow in the ShapeBand, can provide users with a gamified experience and convey more potent effects. This study provides valuable insights into the future design of tangible anxiety regulation interfaces that can be tailored to subjective feelings and individual needs.https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/2/101wearable devicesanxiety regulationphysiological sensing
spellingShingle Yanting Liu
Zihan Xu
Ben Oldfrey
Youngjun Cho
ShapeBand: Design of a Shape-Changing Wristband with Soft Materials and Physiological Sensors for Anxiety Regulation
Information
wearable devices
anxiety regulation
physiological sensing
title ShapeBand: Design of a Shape-Changing Wristband with Soft Materials and Physiological Sensors for Anxiety Regulation
title_full ShapeBand: Design of a Shape-Changing Wristband with Soft Materials and Physiological Sensors for Anxiety Regulation
title_fullStr ShapeBand: Design of a Shape-Changing Wristband with Soft Materials and Physiological Sensors for Anxiety Regulation
title_full_unstemmed ShapeBand: Design of a Shape-Changing Wristband with Soft Materials and Physiological Sensors for Anxiety Regulation
title_short ShapeBand: Design of a Shape-Changing Wristband with Soft Materials and Physiological Sensors for Anxiety Regulation
title_sort shapeband design of a shape changing wristband with soft materials and physiological sensors for anxiety regulation
topic wearable devices
anxiety regulation
physiological sensing
url https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/2/101
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AT youngjuncho shapebanddesignofashapechangingwristbandwithsoftmaterialsandphysiologicalsensorsforanxietyregulation