I am interested in responses that could support regulation without asking the traveller to stop, look at a screen or consciously complete another task.
BoostMeUp stood out because the intervention is deliberately designed to sit at the edge of attention. The smartwatch produces a repeated heartbeat-like tapping rhythm while the user continues working.
That makes it relevant to my airport project. A traveller may already be navigating, listening, carrying luggage or processing changing information, so any regulation support that demands continuous attention could become another burden.
This paper also gives me a useful warning: the researchers tested both a slower and a faster rhythm, and the direction of the feedback mattered. The slower rhythm was associated with more positive outcomes, while the faster rhythm produced the opposite pattern.
BoostMeUp is an Apple Watch intervention that delivers personalised heartbeat-like haptic tapping.
The system is based on earlier research suggesting that people can partially associate external bodily-like signals with their own internal state.
Rather than displaying the person’s heart rate, the watch simulates a different heartbeat rhythm through repeated taps on the wrist.
The intervention was designed to work unobtrusively in parallel with the person’s main task.
The user does not have to count the taps, match their breathing to them or deliberately perform a regulation exercise.
Participants first completed a relaxation period while their resting heart rate was measured.
That baseline was then used to calculate the haptic rhythm.
In the slow condition, the watch tapped approximately 30% slower than the participant’s resting heart rate, within limits of 40–65 beats per minute.
In the fast condition, the watch tapped approximately 30% faster than baseline, within limits of 80–105 beats per minute.
This is an important distinction for my project.
The haptic feedback was personalised using physiological data, but it was not continuously synchronised to the participant’s live heart rate.
The system therefore sits somewhere between a generic haptic intervention and a fully closed-loop bioresponsive system.