British scientist, Alex Farrell is demonstrating this in practice with a mental health improvement ball. Photo: Courtesy of Medical News Network
London: A PhD student in the UK has created a soft ball that can predict mental health by looking at breathing fluctuations and correlations as they come into the hand.
A student at the University of Bath, Alex Farrell is associated with the Department of Computer Science. When you hold this ball in your hand, it adjusts itself according to the pattern and duration of your inhalation and exhalation. It has a good effect on mental health. Thus the ball improves the breathing process.
Experts insist that the process of breathing is so important that we neglect it. If we breathe deeply with complete equanimity, it removes anxiety and has a pleasant effect on the whole body. This is the reason why mental and psychological health experts put a lot of emphasis on the breathing process in their treatment. In difficult times, panic and anxiety, deep breathing is very relaxing and experts recommend it regularly.
This is why it is also used in Mindful Breathing or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which is also an effective method. In addition, breathing techniques have been used successfully in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
According to Alex, this ball makes the breathing process better and deeper. When the volunteers were given this ball, they started focusing on breathing. Meanwhile, the app also gave them meditation and concentration instructions, which included audio recordings.
Patients who were given the ball experienced a 75% reduction in anxiety. Worrying thoughts were reduced by 56 percent, but those who only listened to the recording saw only a 31 percent reduction in anxiety.
The results of this research were presented at the CHI Conference on Computers and Human Factors. As soon as you hold this ball, your breath will become a physical object. This is because the ball expands and contracts as you breathe. This way you improve and deepen the breath.
This ball is named Physical Artifact Four Wheel Bang Support (PAWS).
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