Light bird : an animated biofeedback interface for coherent breathing.

Biofeedback-assisted breathing training is widely used in stress mitigation and relaxation exercise. It helps users to breathe coherently with the natural heart rate oscillation, which facilitates circulation and strengthens the capability of autonomic nervous system to adapt to stress. We present Light bird: a paper-crane shaped animated interface that presents biofeedback information and targeted breathing guidance in the same interface. We hypothesized that Light bird would improve the effectiveness and the experience of breathing training. We tested our hypotheses by comparing Light bird with a graphic interface during the 10-minute breathing training. While users gave higher subjective ratings for the experience on Light bird, their heart rate oscillation was not enhanced significantly. We discuss these results and future design insights for designing the interface of biofeedback technology in the context of coherent breathing training and stress mitigation.