PAWS (smart ball to eliminate anxiety and depression)

2023: Product Announcement

At the end of August 2023, British researchers from the University of Bath reported on the development of a smart ball designed to maintain mental health, eliminate anxiety and depression. The so-called Physical Artifact to Support Wellbeing (PAWS) is said to "personify" breathing, helping a person to relax and calm down.

The idea is to use breathing exercises to improve well-being. This technique is not new, but, according to the PAWS developers, it is often difficult for people to focus on their breathing. In this case, having lost concentration, a person again returns to anxious thoughts, and therefore the therapy turns out to be ineffective.

A smart ball gives breathing "fitness." It expands when a person takes a breath and contracts when exhaled. In other words, the user literally feels every breath and exhale with his hands. As a result, involvement in the process of performing breathing exercises increases, which contributes to the achievement of positive results. The ball works through tactile feedback: sensors attached to the user's body transmit data on the nature of his breathing, and the controller gives commands to control the pump. The first version of the ball uses a wired connection to sensors, but in the future the project participants intend to implement a wireless connection via Bluetooth.

For those who used the ball, anxiety decreased by an average of 75%. At the same time, they were 56% less likely to have thoughts of concern. For comparison, among those who listened to soothing audio recordings without using the ball, a decrease in anxiety was recorded by an average of 31%. The developers believe that in the future their invention will find application both in medical institutions and at home.^[1]

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