1. Neha Shah
Major: MFA, Design and Technology
“Ken”
[ken]–noun
a. Knowledge, understanding, or cognizance; mental perception: an idea beyond one's ken.
b. Range of sight or vision.
c. To know, have knowledge of or about, or be acquainted with (a person or thing).
d. To understand or perceive (an idea or situation).
5/06/2011
Nano+Biotech - Prof.Victoria Vesna

2. ABSTRACT
A mobile application that attempts to bring down stress levels of a busy
person by bringing an understanding that healthy living begins with
incorporating small changes. But what are these small changes? “Ken” – a
smartphone application provides a list of such small changes as built in
reminders that encourage the user to engage in simple and healthy activities
like closing eyes and stretching while working, drinking water, keeping
healthy snacks etc. The application also provides relevant podcasts for the
user based on their stress profile. This stress profile is created as per user’s
interaction with the application including setting the mood and updating any
life changes they might be going through. While mood and life changes
define how stressed the user is, choosing to be reminded about small
healthy activities brings down the stress level in a weekly graph that user
can view over the application website.

3. CONCEPT / TOPIC
Technology today has become a tool to flow large
amounts of content that contributes in increasing
pre-existing stress levels. If used correctly
technology can be used as a tool to educate, heal,
inform and talk to the user instead of loading the
user with huge amounts of irrelevant information
and advertising. Applications like these are a form
of persuasive technology that can inspire the user
to engage in simple but effective activities to live a
more holistic lifestyle.

4. CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE
Captology is the study of computers as persuasive technologies. This
includes the design, research, and analysis of interactive computing
products (computers, mobile phones, websites, wireless technologies,
mobile applications, video games, etc.) created for the purpose of changing
people’s attitudes or behaviors. BJ Fogg derived the term captology in 1996
from an acronym: Computers As Persuasive Technologies = CAPT.

5. CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE
The study, published in the journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Scholars came together to experiment with 17 meditation-naïve
participants. They proved that meditating for just 30 minutes a day for
eight weeks can increase the density of gray matter in brain regions
associated with memory, stress, and empathy.

6. CONTEXT & PRECEDENCE
The Meditation Chamber is a novel combination of immersive virtual
reality (VR) and biofeedback technologies. Its primary goal is to help users
lower their stress levels through meditation and muscle relaxation. Its
secondary goal is to enable users who have never meditated to gain real-
time feedback that allows them to sense when they are indeed lowering
the physiological states that are indicative of meditating.

7. Application Screens

15. Questions
How comfortable are you with the idea of bio feedback?
Customizable reminders?
What would keep you engaged with the application?

16. REFERENCES
[1] Barnes,V., Schneider, R., et al. 1997. “Stress, Stress Reduction, and Hypertension in African Americans: An Updated
Review,” J. Natl Med. Assn, 89(7):464-476.
[2] Gatchel, R.J., Peng,Y.B., et al., 2007. “The Biopsychosocial Approach to Chronic Pain: Scientific Advances and Future
Directions”, Psychological Bulletin 133(4):581-634.
[3] Gethin, R., 1998. The Foundations of Buddhism (OPUS), Oxford: Oxford University Press, New York, pg 1.
[4] Miller, N.E., 1977. “Biofeedback and Visceral Learning.” In Biofeedback and Self-Control. Stoyva, J, et al., eds. New
York: Aldine.
[5] Picard, R., 1997. Affective Computing, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 122
[6] Segal Z., Williams, et al. 2001. Mindfulness-Base Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing
Relapse, Guilford Press, New York.
[7] Varela, F.J., Thompson, E., et al. 1993. The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience, Cambridge MA:
MITPress.
[8] Walton K.G., Pugh, N.D., et al. 1995. “Stress Reduction and preventing hypertension: preliminary support for a
psychoneuroendocrine mechanism.” In J. Alternative Complementary Medicine, 1(3), 263-283.
[9] Wenneberg, S.R., Schneider, R.H., et al. 1997. ”Anger expression correlates with platelet aggregation,” Behavioral
Medicine, vol. 22, no. 4, pp.174-177.
[10] Britta K. Hölzela, Mark Vangela, Christina Congletona, Sita M.Yerramsettia, Tim Gard, Sara W. Lazara, Bender, Justus
Liebig Universität Giessen, Germany, Britta K. Hölzela, Tim Gard, Worcester, MA, USA, James Carmody. “Mindfulness
practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density” Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical
School, Boston, MA, USA, Institute of Neuroimaging, , University of Massachusetts Medical School
[11] B J Fogg et al. 2002. “Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do”

17. Thank you