Breathing Pod

A handheld device that renders another person's breathing (as physical expansion) and heartbeat (as vibration) into something you feel in your palm. Built as a master's thesis in HCI: a functional research prototype, plus the study, firmware, and real-time biosignal pipeline around it.

Connection ≠ Comprehension

In a within-subjects study (preregistered, ethics-approved), the tangible Pod produced the strongest sense of interpersonal closeness of any interface tested. Yet no interface let people decode the sender's emotional state above chance. Felt connection and signal legibility turned out to be separable design outcomes, needing different strategies. The Pod also won on hedonic UX and on the "brings me closer" item, the study's largest effect.

This case study is being expanded. The full narrative, hardware detail, and field-session footage are on the way.