Paper Info
Title
Unwind: A Musical Biofeedback For Relaxation Assistance
Abstract
Unwind is a musical biofeedback interface which combines nature sounds and sedative music into a form of New-Age music for relaxation exercises. The nature sounds respond to the user's physiological data, functioning as an informative layer for biofeedback display. The sedative music aims to induce calmness and evoke positive emotions. UnWind incorporates the benefits of biofeedback and sedative music to facilitate deep breathing, moderate arousal, and promote mental relaxation. We evaluated Unwind in a 2x2 factorial experiment with music and biofeedback as independent factors. Forty young adults performed the relaxation exercise under one of the following conditions after experiencing a stressful task: Nature sounds only (NS), Nature sounds with music (NM), and Auditory biofeedback with nature sounds (NSBFB), and UnWind musical biofeedback (NMBFB). The results revealed a significant interaction effect between music and biofeedback on the improvement of heart rate variability. The combination of music and nature sounds also showed benefits in lowering arousal and reducing self-report anxiety. We conclude with a discussion of UnWind for biofeedback and the wider potential of blending nature sounds with music as a musical interface.
Year
DOI
Venue
2018
10.1080/0144929X.2018.1484515
BEHAVIOUR & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Keywords
Field
DocType
Biofeedback, relaxation, sonification, musical display, heart rate variability
Social psychology,Arousal,Musical,Computer science,Anxiety,Cognitive psychology,Sonification,Relaxation exercise,Biofeedback
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
37
8
0144-929X
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
2
0.39
4
Authors
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Bin Yu1409.65
Mathias Funk211229.69
jun hu319733.20
l m g feijs4217.21