This is a cellphone application, which lets you relax anywhere you want. No matter what kind of situation you're in, it suits your need with different modules (unless you're under water !!).

If you're busy at work, sound module allows you to relax with soothing music and comforting shapes, while you have both hands on work.



If you're tired both mental and physical, thermo module helps you relieve by helping you increase your body temperature. Base on the theory of the relationship between, once your body temperature get higher, your vessel get better circulation inside, and you will feel more relax.



What if you're really stressed by someone, that you hate or you love? Try "Shake Shake" module! It allows you to take a photo of the one you hate with cell phone camera, and shake him as a virtual character on your cell phone screen; The harder you shake, the better score you will get! [Try it] with your cellphone, if you have Nokia phone with Flash player in it.













This Relax Application is created by Daniela Stepensky and Roger TSAI, see the whole presentation [here].

Should you have any question of this application and related question(e.g. how to build a cellphone application, please do not hesitate to reply)

Rather than talk, we act. Rather than say it, we draw it. Here are the different scenario drawing to describe how people interact with various mobile relax modules.

1. Sound Visualization Module
(by Daniela)

1) standing on New York City subway platform, she's trying to squeeze in the packed cargo.


2) She feel exhausted getting a place on subway, so she started to use the mobile relax module: Sound Visualization Module.



3) As simple sound repeating, the peaceful ripple shape animation gradually changing with the tempo of sound.




4) she feels relaxed! Thanks for mobile relax module!!



2. Shake It Real Good
(by Roger)

1) in ITP workshop space(pcomp lab), things are messy; wires, cables, motors, soldering iron...


2) and crowded, people squeezing to find a place to work;


3) and noisy, metal cutting noise, people talk with unknown language, someone think he's a rocker and singing;



4) "I can't stand for these sh?t !!"


5) "go die" He pretend his cellphone is a wander stick, swing away these evil things (or a bat hitting someone)


6) he becomes Peacful again~




3. Temperature Module
(by Daniela)

1) He feels stressed from school works



(2)He use mobile relax module: visualizing your body temperature (above)


3) His body temperature get higher, using cell cable attach to his thumb and index finger to measure.



4) And as body temperature goes higher, he becomes relaxed

Conclusion:

Sometimes we need something physically balance our abnormal status, and sometimes we need an EXIT for our stimulated mind. We're trying to offer people various way to let go stress, come back to peace and relax. More thoughts will be updated on this blog.

----------This project is co-worked by ----------
Daniela Stepensky & Roger H.T. TSAI
---------------------------------------------------

So now, we have a bunch of ideas, and we thought about scenario, we started to think evaluate each ideas' benefits and shortcoming. Click on the link below and you'll see the analysis presentation.

See the analysis(click here)



This analysis brought us confidence and questions. Some of the idea are really attractive but with technical challenge, while others seems mediocre but more feasible. So, how do we proceed? The answer is: tackle challenge by using design method: Visualizing user scenario, animation prototype. We're gonna start drawing and some simple flash animation(specifically Flash-Lite, flash for cellphone). I also think about Google Sketch-Up which allows me to do fast easy 3D concept drawing/ simulation.

Since we decided to focus on ITP student as our potential user, we started to think about different user scenario, and also their potential need. Here is some interesting description:

1. Subway
User:
- Itp student, alone, commuting in a loud environment, with no privacy,
Stress Source:
- School work, loud environment, crowded places, time consumption
Existing Relaxation:
- iPod, PSP(game console), reading, cellphone game
Potential Need:
- entertainment relaxation method, talk to familiar people,

2. School
User:
- ITP student, faculty, admin, working on project
Stress Source:
- school project, time consumption, job hunting, noise, distraction
Existing Relaxation:
- iPod, wii, fuse-ball, friends, youtube video
Potential Need:
- quiet place, possibility of escaping ITP while at ITP,
relaxation method while working

3. Home
User:
- ITP student, faculty, admin, working on project
Stress Source:
- school project, finance in NYC, bills, grocery shopping, laundry
Existing Relaxation:
- TV, computer, bed & couch, alcohol, pot, Wii(game console), read, music
shower, smoke
Potential Need:
- to be discussed (you've almost got everything in your home)

4. Street
User:
- ITP student, faculty, admin, daily life and/or commuting
Stress Source:
- loud, crowded, time, crazy traffic in NYC, direction, weather
Existing Relaxation:
- iPod, smoke
Potential Need:
- wonderful map, portable entertainment relaxation

Later on, we'll discuss more about how we integrate our idea and the user scenario.

Exciting news! After our long journey on various research, the incubative energy in our team finally burst! Based on the research proposal we presented, we start brain storming and have crazy and wild ideas!

Let's see some fresh idea:

:: Wanderer's Compass ::
By using GPS or electronic compass embedded in cellphone, you can have a 5 minutes wandering experience.

:: Phonebook Lottery ::
Lottery go through your cellphone contact list, once you pull the bar, it directly pick random person in your contact list and automatically call them.

:: Temperature Module ::
Thermometer on the side of mobile that has a visual if desired. Keeps track of temperature and be it maybe with game interface. You have to learn to increase the temperature. -Daniela

:: Shake It, Shake It Real Good ::
By using cellphone embedded accelerometer, you can play games to throw out your stress or yelling at your virtual boss -Roger

:: Breath Helper ::
through auditory and image(maybe like an inflating circle), the mobile guides your breath, trying to make it more stable, slower, equal inhale and exhale, longer. -Daniela

:: Story Far Far Away ::
By using cellphone and wifi, you can experience others' story (Iceland, South Africa, India, Thailand...), share and see feedback. -Roger

:: Smile! ::
By using cellphone camera, you can capture your facial feature, and system will have a dorky face which leads you to do some funny face. Or simply use microphone to detect your sound, then guide you to laugh. -Roger

:: Replay Precious Time ::
Every time you laugh, you blush, you have joyful moment, you use cellphone to record your body info(bio info), next time when you feel depressed, you can recall this body info and try to make yourself back to the happy positive state. -Roger

:: ITP Mind Bath ::
Once you enter the physical space, 3 module you can choose:
1. Rest: peaceful music, dim light, soft couch.
2. Share: speak out your stress, sadness, secret.
3. Response: see others' stress story and response by leaving message -Roger

:: ITP Idea Generator ::
Everyday ITP student got an email asking for creative idea, these ideas will be stored in ITP server. Later if anyone need some inspiration, he can just log on the server to
check brilliant ideas. -Roger

After a long joyful journey doing various research, our team come to a place which is called "sharing". Here, we wanna share our special experience, people's story, and interesting finding. Please click on the link below to see the full presentation (PDF file).

click HERE to see

When I started to plan a good observation about how people relax, I thought about several things according to my habbit and lifestyle. I play guitar, piano, keyboard as my favorite when I feel emotional; I go out hit the road or go to gym when I feel energetic. I go to movie, brunch, dinner with friend when I feel lonely. I take shower, do yoga, sleep when I feel tired or stress. So what are the ritual other people take when they need to relax?

First, I wanna start research about physical aspect of relax, and I started to ask random people. Most of them drink, as a useful way to release their stress. When I discuss with my class advisor Rebecca and classmate Seanita and Daniela, we have several ideas about why drinking help people relax. For the first reason, the alcohol(No need extra explaination). Second, and very important, it's a social atmosphere the makes you feel comfortable. Third, and the reason I think is the most importatn, that you can freely speak of yourself, don't have to care about too much how people see you when you're tipsy; it's a place that you can be just whoever you are. (A bit dirty jokes you wouldn't say when you're sober makes people even happier!)

Then I started to interview people about how they feel about drinking as a way to relax. One of my friend says when people are tipsy, everyone is losen and easily you can make friend them. So that we know when people drink, it's a friendly environment and makes people feel good.

Another friend of mine who's a bartander in Taiwan talked about drinking. He think another reason why people feel relax when drinking, is about humor. When you see drunk people doing stupid things, acting awkward, shouted "I'm not drunk", these silly things initiate humorous sense and make others happy and relax.

This morning I went to Harlem, New York for brunch with gospell music, I met some new faces from all around the world. A mother and her daughter from Hokaido Japan ordered Magerita along with their delicious brunch meal. They started to talk about their family drinking habbit even before I asked them. For them, drinking is always about celebration. Even when they feel bad, they drink, and say: "This drink is to a better tomorrow, Kanbai!(the word they use whe tossing)". So drinking for them is always related to something possitive, happy, and joyful.

By analyzing the information above, I found some key element about how people relax. First, memory of happiness. Things that can recall one's happy memory contribute to make people feel relax. As we know that when people browse through their photo albums, smiling alwasy come to their face and good conversation can be easily initiated.

Second, being oneself. An environment that can let someone being their self can also make him relax. In this busy and highly structured world, it's not easy to be the one you really want 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When you're home, you have to be strong and possitive in front of your children; When you are in office, you have to face your client, your colleague, and most important of all, your boss, the one who pay your salary. So we're living in an age that you have little time for being yourself, and that's why it become important to one's mental health.

To sum up, if a place, a ritual can let you be yourself, you can probably assume that it will help you relax. Moreover, if it also evoke happy memory, it'd probably be the first thing come to your mind when you're stressed and try to find a way out.

Intervew to be continued.