Utrecht student Rosa de Vries (Utrecht University of Applied Sciences) hopes to have found a solution for people suffering from stress and feeling agitated. Together with people who suffer a lot from stimuli, she developed the Mellow: a pillow with a heartbeat.
"A heartbeat is naturally something that makes us feel calm," Rosa de Vries told Een Vandaag, "Think of babies with their mothers on their laps or, earlier on, in the womb. Or when you have a pet on your lap." That prompted her to use a heartbeat in the cushion. The cushion vibrates, but does not make a sound. "Sound distracts very quickly, while a pulsating feeling is very nice. Moreover, people can use the cushion now, while others don't immediately notice." De Vries thinks her cushion will be a nice addition in all the existing methods out there to reduce stress in people. "You can of course do yoga and mindfulness, but with Mellow you really have a tangible object that you can hold. You don't have to take it out of your toes, it actually has an immediate effect."
The design of the cushion is still in the early stages, with the prototype currently in place being modified. However, De Vries did test the cushion recently at the TT in Assen. "First aid is a very stressful environment," says de Vries in a press release from the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. "Not only the person who needs first aid gets stressed, but also friends who accompany them." That makes it a very interesting place to see what the effect of Mellow is on a larger scale." De Vries designed Mellow following conversations with people who suffer a lot from stimuli. For this group, the cushion proved effective. Because the cushion could be more widely applicable, de Vries decided to test it among a diverse audience. "It seems like everyone I talk to comes up with a new application: incubator children; people doing mindfulness - all kinds of situations where people want or need to release tension. That's not surprising, of course: the need to get into a state of calm and relaxation easily and quickly is something very human."
Stable technology
The idea behind the cushion Mellow is simple: a fast-beating heart adapts more easily if it can "mirror" a calm pace. Yet the design - which de Vries started working on while studying mechanical engineering at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences - was quite a job. "The technology that makes the heartbeat was too fragile at first. Fortunately, I met Rins Rutgers and Joost van Duijn in one of HU University of Applied Sciences' technology workshops. They set up a company after their studies at HU, developing new technology. They are now doing the same for Mellow."
Co-creation
In the third year of her Mechanical Engineering course, de Vries did a so-called Quest project. In this, students work for half a year on an innovation issue from practice. She collaborated on designing solutions to problems within paediatric oncology. The basis of this project was co-creation: the solutions were devised together with children in the oncology department of a hospital. This approach fascinated de Vries. She followed the minor Co-design and graduated on Mellow, from the HU lectureship Co-design. Mellow was developed within the HU Powertools project.
De Vries received a grant from SIA Innofest that will allow her to test the innovation at festivals. Besides at the TT Assen, she will test the heart rate cushion in the Chill-area of FestiValderAa, where she will also give an outdoor lecture on Mellow and on relaxing in a world full of stimuli. For the continuation of her research, de Vries recently received a Sia HBO Take-off grant.
The right heartbeat
According to De Vries, in the current prototype, she does not yet have the most favourable heart rate to deal with. Speaking to Een Vandaag, she says: "The prototype I have now beats at a frequency of about 60 beats per minute. That is the normal heart rate of an adult at rest. In a busy environment like TT Assen, that is still ok, but in a quiet environment it is actually still too fast. Test subjects say it should actually be a bit lower. So in the final model, the heart rate will probably go to 50 beats per minute," says De Vries. When the cushion will be on sale is not yet known.
Source + photo: Hogeschool Utrecht/Een Vandaag
