Quantified Self – Robotics

The PIP, of Galvanic–Kickstarter is a revolutionary biosensor that helps you combat stress. Available for both iOS and Android, the PIP detects whether you are stressing or relaxing in real time.

We’ve made the PIP super-easy to use. Just hold it between your fingertips and it will communicate your stress level wirelessly to an app running on your smartphone or tablet. An ever-expanding suite of gaming and entertainment apps is available, allowing you to visualize and master your stress in a fun and engaging way.

In today’s fast paced world, the PIP is designed to suit your lifestyle – highly portable, easy to use and above all, fun, the PIP is a unique product that empowers you to beat stress, when and where you want to.

How does it work?

When you are in a stressful situation your body’s flight or fight response is activated. As a result, blood is rushed to the periphery of the body which causes your sweat glands to activate. This activation changes the conductivity of your skin and is referred to as the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR).

Held between your finger and thumb, the PIP captures those changes and transmits them, via Bluetooth, to your mobile device.

Algorithm for Deducing Stress
Merely measuring the GSR is not enough. We have developed our own complex GSR analysis systems to give accurate feedback for all users of the PIP regardless of skin type and environmental conditions.

Biofeedback
The PIP has emerged from research and development in the exciting “Quantified Self” space, and empowers the user to develop relaxation skills using a technique called biofeedback. One of the most valuable aids in any learning process is performance feedback. Biofeedback is a process where the user learns to gain conscious control over an aspect of their psycho-physiological state, by providing continuous information on whether or not they are “doing the right thing”. With repeated practice, the user gradually evolves a personal strategy that produces the desired result. This offers all sorts of opportunities for people to “manage the moment” – from general well-being, to any area of life where being calm improves performance.

The PIP and Games
Any activity that requires repetition is in danger of becoming boring. That’s why the PIP puts the fun into relaxation. The feedback mechanism is provided through a game running on a smartphone or tablet. Users’ stress levels, as measured by the PIP, are used to determine their performance in the game: the more relaxed they are, the better they do. The counter-intuitive way the PIP works is a powerful learning mechanism. One of the great strengths of video games is that they allow the player to have fun, while performing the same task over and over again. By using games as the context for biofeedback, the user learns how to relax quickly, while having fun at the same time.

Compatibility
The PIP will work with the iPhone 4S and above, the iPad 3 and above and most Android smart devices.

Limited Edition PIPs
For Kickstarter we’re offering a special choice of colors. We’ve included the image below for illustrative purposes to give people an idea of what these PIPs will look like.

What Our Community is Saying

We’ve been lucky enough to get suggestions from our backers about how they might use the PIP in new and interesting ways. We would like to share these thoughts with the whole community as well as invite people to suggest more possible uses of the PIP.

Psychology
Measuring and using GSR for therapeutic purposes has been common for many years. We have had messages from psychologists and psychotherapists the world over, who see the PIP as an avenue for patients to extend therapy outside the clinical setting. We are told it could be of use in the treatment of PTSD, chronic pain, addiction and many other afflictions.

Parents
The gaming aspect of the PIP seems to be particularly attractive to parents. One early tester of the PIP had his two children play Relax & Race at bedtime. They really enjoyed playing but with the added advantage of calming their minds before sleep. In addition, some parents have suggested that their children could use the PIP to relax and focus just before a big tennis match.

Quantified Self
There’s lots of interest from the Quantified Self community who use devices to monitor, record and analyse physiological signals to promote long term health and wellness. They have told us the PIP would be a valuable addition to their toolkit. To assist them we have recently announced that the games will include recording and analysis features so they can track their improvements. We are also creating a standalone QS app for real-time monitoring of your stress levels. The app will allow you to record and review key performance statistics and charts and will be free of charge to everyone.