CalmWear: A Smart Tactile Sensory Stimulation Clothing

Abstract

The emotional and physical health benefits that come by being touched in safe ways are well established. Tactile sensory stimulation has been reported to help calm the arousal in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Sensory Processing Disorder as well as Anxiety Disorders. Anxiety disorders which effect around 265 million people worldwide can benefit from innovation into design-based, non-pharmacological interventions. Smart clothing and textiles have the potential to not only to sense and collect physiological data about the wearer but also to act on the body with embedded actuation capabilities such as promoting tactile stimuli. This study presents a novel reactive smart clothing that can respond to changes in vital signs of the body with tactile stimulation. CalmWear features tactile actuating through a strategically located and textured air bladder that provides automated and dynamic compression in response to change in heart rate variability and respiration rate as indicators of anxiety. CalmWear offers novel ways of complementing care to empower people with anxiety disorders with its ubiquitous nature and its affordance.