Soundscapes

A hybrid (sound) book for anxiety

Abstract

Emerged in later 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic caused several impacts on the economy, society, and lifestyle. Because of a context of fear, unpredictability, and compulsory social isolation, mental health diseases such as anxiety and depression have increased greatly all over the world.

The lockdown enforced the use of online technologies for work, education, entertainment, and socializing. However, some studies already show that excessive screen time often leads to states of anxiety and addiction.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relaxation effects from the use of a hybrid sound book that uses printed electronics to allow the reproduction of nature’s sounds. Additionally, a set of gestures was established in order to investigate if they would be considered intuitive or not. 

The design process was divided into three phases: exploratory research, for gathering information about the topic; ideation, defined by the experimentation of ideas and concepts and prototyping, whose objective was to establish affordances and types of interactions; and testing, which target the evaluation of usability and user experience. 

The final prototype was tested by six participants. Although only a few participants demonstrated comprehension of the affordances proposed, mostly considered to have high levels of pleasure and excitement while using it. These findings indicate that the prototype "Soundscapes" can act as an alternative for entertainment and stress relief at home by manipulating a physical paper while exploring touch and pressure in the object itself.