Meiso
Play Breath Relax

Brief

Design a product that will help achieve well-being through breathing, with the help of Biofeedback and Neurofeedback for the urban millennials.

Komusō

The Komuso was a group of Japanese mendicant monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism who flourished during the Edo period of 1600–1868.

They were known for playing solo pieces on the Shakuhachi (a type of bamboo flute) during a meditative practice called Suizen, in return for alms, as a method of attaining enlightenment, and as a healing modality.

Ceremony

“An event of ritual significance performed on a special occasion
I wanted the user to create a ceremonial, repetitive, and habitual experience with the object.” To make time at the end of the day for this purpose, an overall experience that combines sound and movement
This can help puts the user into a complete experience of relaxation and taking care of his wellbeing

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Target Audience

Hard-working young people who feel they are too stressed during the day.
they are willing to dedicate 10-15 minutes to breathing exercises.
spiritual people who believe in meditation and relaxation.

• The power of music to reduce stress.

• Mantra Meditation helps focus and replace thinking.

• Ritualizing behavior helps to reduce stress.

Applied Game

The purpose of the game is to play music. Whenever the user finishes a stage, another layer of music is unlocked and can be added to the track of the user.
The user can see what stage they are at and how much is left before getting to the next one. Also, the user can see information about the session they just had, such as time, average HRV, respiratory rate, etc. They can also compare it to other sessions or other users.

When the user feels that the track is done and he is happy with the music he created, he can save it for the next sessions and even share it with the Meiso community.

Applied games are proven as a successful trigger for helping users be more committed and engaged with the target they set. In this case, the target is to improve one's well-being through continuous workouts on breathing exercises.

Meiso
Play Breath Relax

Meiso is a digital musical instrument.
its purpose is to help practice proper breathing in a fun, relaxing way.
playing Meiso is intuitive and easy and can suit anyone.

"Tiny Habits" (B.J. Fogg behavior model)

I wanted to help the user adopt a new behavior - playing Meiso on a regular basis so they could reduce stress in their life and increase their well-being.

According to Fogg's model, three elements must converge at the same moment for a behavior to occur:

Motivation - Meiso is a game, and as such, the user must complete levels in order to unlock the next ones. This method is known for increasing the user's motivation to keep playing.

Ability: I wanted to create an intuitive product that mimics the way our lungs work while breathing. The "Accordion" kind of instrument mimics the inhale and exhale while breathing. The Music and especially the metronome layer are helping the user understand the rhythm and the tempo at which they should breathe.

Prompts: The fact that the product is physical reminds the users they should use it. It has an aesthetic minimalist design, which you can put proudly in the living room or in a visible place so you get a reminder to use it every time you pass it by.

Another prompt is a notification. The user gets to their phone to remind them to make a session.