Quality Enhancement of Finger Surface Temperature Feedback Through Innovative Design Approaches

Abstract

Due to aggravating competition and living pressure in modern societies, stress syndrome worsens, and somatic dysfunctions or pathological changes arise more obviously and frequently than before. For stress management, physiological feedback or muscle relaxation with physiological feedback monitoring is useful in alleviating stress syndrome and improving mental health. Physiological feedback has been recognized as one of the main treatment modes in behavior therapy, and is widely adopted in clinical practices to date. Among all measures, temperature feedback is most employed by therapists. However, devices suitable for mobile use and daily monitoring, which are critical to training of stress management, are absent. To fulfill such need, a portable temperature feedback apparatus is developed, which is in form of a ring and an innovative design. In this paper, the product design process is addressed as an interdisciplinary approach for new product development and a case study for design integration. Signal analysis and usability test are held to verify functionalities of the ring device. As a result, a new treatment approach integrating the ring device and its concerned systems into group therapy is proposed. With the new design, stress management becomes more viable and distant treatment more feasible.

A vision-oriented approach for innovative product design

“…Implementation of a prototype for user observation will become further work for the innovative design. However, another practical case [72], an innovative ring device for biofeedback, developed mainly based on the principles of the VOI approach, strengthens the effectiveness of the new process. The resulted ring device is so far the smallest temperature feedback device in the world.…”