Performative – A Squeezable Stress Indicator

Introduction: In a fast-paced world, anxiety and stress are becoming increasingly common, yet often difficult to express. Many people struggle to communicate their emotional state, leading to feelings of isolation or even worsening mental health. In the future, how can we help others recognize when we are experiencing anxiety or stress, especially when it’s hard to put those feelings into words? My project, Future Companion, aims to tackle this issue by creating a simple, expressive object that allows individuals to communicate their anxiety through a physical interaction: squeezing.

The Challenge: In today’s world, mental health challenges like anxiety and stress are often underrepresented or misunderstood. People dealing with these issues may find it difficult to express what they are feeling, especially in public settings or when they don’t feel ready to talk. This often leaves them feeling unsupported or unnoticed, when in reality, they might need help right away.

The challenge is clear: How can we design a way for individuals to communicate their emotional state without having to speak?

The Concept: My project, Future Companion, is a squeezable object embedded with a pressure sensor that detects the intensity of the squeeze and uses LED lights and a buzzer to visually and audibly communicate the user’s emotional state. The object is designed to be a future tool to inform people around us of our anxiety and stress so that they can offer support when needed.

Design Process:

1. Identifying the Emotional Cue (Squeezing): The primary emotional cue that the object responds to is squeezing—a common physical expression of anxiety or stress. When individuals are anxious or stressed, they may unconsciously squeeze something in their hands to relieve tension. By using a pressure sensor, I can detect the level of pressure applied to the object and translate that into a meaningful response.
2. Choosing the Technologies:
   • Pressure Sensor: The pressure sensor will detect how tightly the object is being squeezed, with higher pressure indicating greater anxiety or stress.
   • LED Lights: I have two LEDs that will light up based on the intensity of the squeeze. The LEDs will indicate how strong the emotional response is:
     • One LED: A moderate level of stress or anxiety.
     • Two LEDs: A higher level of anxiety or stress.
   • Buzzer: The buzzer will emit different frequencies based on the pressure level:
     • Low frequency: A softer, lower-level anxiety.
     • High frequency: A more intense or urgent level of stress.
3. Designing the Interaction: The design revolves around a squeezable toy that serves as an emotional expression tool. When the user squeezes the toy:
   • Low Pressure (One LED): When the squeeze is light or moderate, only one LED will light up, and a low-pitched tone will play from the buzzer.
   • High Pressure (Two LEDs): If the squeeze is strong or intense, two LEDs will light up, and a high-pitched tone will sound, alerting those around the user to the level of distress.
   The LEDs and buzzer combine to create a visual and auditory signal of the user’s emotional state, providing a clear, non-verbal form of communication to those nearby.
4. Prototyping and Testing: The first step in creating the prototype involved selecting the components and wiring them together:
   • I connected the pressure sensor to the Arduino board to read the pressure input.
   • The LEDs were connected to different output pins, so I could control their behavior depending on the sensor input.
   • The buzzer was wired to another output pin, with the frequency controlled by the pressure value.
   After completing the hardware setup, I wrote the Arduino code to read the sensor input and activate the LEDs and buzzer according to the pressure levels. The final result is an interactive, performative object that helps individuals express and communicate their emotional needs in real time.

Final Result:

The finished prototype of Future Companion works as follows:

• When a person feels anxious or stressed and approaches and squeezes the object:
  • One LED lights up for moderate anxiety, accompanied by a low-frequency buzzer.
  • Two LEDs light up for higher levels of stress or anxiety, accompanied by a high-frequency buzzer.

This provides a clear, immediate signal to those nearby that the person may need emotional support or assistance. The object can be discreetly carried around and used whenever the need arises, offering a non-verbal way to communicate feelings of anxiety.

Performative and Expressive Nature:

The performative aspect of this object comes from its ability to communicate emotional states in a dynamic and expressive way. The changing color of the LEDs and the frequency of the buzzer are visually and audibly expressive cues that actively communicated through the performance of approaching and squeezing the piggy toy.

Engaging the Audience:

This project engages the user and the audience (people around them) by turning a personal emotional experience into a shared, communicative event. The user doesn’t need to speak to express their anxiety; instead, the object communicates the emotional state on their behalf. For the people around them, this gives them an opportunity to notice and respond to the emotional need, offering comfort or support.

Future Possibilities:

In the future, I envision this object evolving into a more advanced version that could integrate other features such as:

• Bluetooth connectivity to send alerts to friends or family members when a person is in distress.
• Customizable LED colors and buzzer sounds based on user preferences or emotional triggers.
• AI-driven emotional analysis to provide more tailored feedback and support.

This kind of futuristic object could revolutionize the way we communicate emotional needs, especially for individuals who find it difficult to verbalize their anxiety or stress.