Wearable devices and smart garments for stress management

Abstract

Wearables are the cutting edge of electronic devices; as they are miniaturized, people can directly wear them, generating a continuous interaction with computers. The implementation of wearables in everyday life is going to change completely human behaviours. These devices create human-computer interaction potentialities that can be addressed to several directions: taking care of people, leading people to a different behaviour model for changing social dynamics, turning these ubiquitous computers into a “collective wearable”. There is a global adoption of the preventive approach to health: it consists of measures taken for disease prevention, as opposed to disease treatment. There is also an increasing attention to security and to risk management in the sanitary field in terms of products, ergonomic communication and innovation of processes. Moreover, users demand to know their real wellness status, independently of the individual perception. It’s necessary to inform users about the biofeedback recorded by wearable devices, but it is essential to effectively communicating them to caregivers or patients. This paper, presenting some results of interaction design research for human wellbeing and healthcare, explores tangible interfaces focused on biomedical fields: it concerns security, stress management, collection of biofeedback for preventive healthcare and also emotional issues connected with the human-computer interaction.