Excessive workplace stress affects the individual’s health as well as social collaborations, so the management of stressors is essential. However, an individual worker who only subjectively reflects on his or her individual and social stressors may misinterpret them, and thus not be able to manage them. This paper aims at engaging workplace stress reflection on objective stress-related physiological data using a shared display, which provides an anonymous view of the individual stress-related physiological signals (i.e., heart-rate variability) through a collective visualization. A minimalist proof-of-concept system is implemented for investigating the design space and deployed during group collaboration. The user study results show that the visualization successfully drew the participants’ awareness and increased their understanding of self and organizational stress. This work highlights the importance of objective physiological data in the reflection process of organizational stress management.

Haptics for stress regulation is well developed these years. Using vibrotactile to present biofeedback, guiding breathing or heartbeat regulation is a dominant technical approach. However, designing computer-mediated affective touch for stress regulation is also a promising way and has not been fully explored. In this paper, a haptic device was developed to test whether the computer-mediated affective stroking on the forearm could help to assist people in reducing stress. In our method, we used mid-air technology to generate subtle pressure force by blowing air and generating thermal feedback by using Peltier elements simultaneously. Firstly, we found intensity and velocity parameters to present comfort and pleasant stroking sensations. Afterward, an experiment was conducted to find out whether this approach could help people mediate their perceived and physiological stress. A total of 49 participants were randomly assigned to either a Stroking Group (SG) or a Control Group (CG). Results showed that participants from SG felt more relaxed than those from CG. The physiological stress index, RMSSD, increased and LF/HF decreased in SG although these changes were not statistically significant. Our exploration created subtle, non-invasive, noiseless haptic sensations. It could be a promising alternative for assisting people in stress regulation. Design implications and future applicable scenarios were discussed.

Anxiety among pregnant women can significantly impact their overall well-being. However, the development of data-driven HCI interventions for this demographic is often hindered by data scarcity and collection challenges. In this study, we leverage the Empatica E4 wristband to gather physiological data from pregnant women in both resting and relaxed states. Additionally, we collect subjective reports on their anxiety levels. We integrate features from signals including Blood Volume Pulse (BVP), Skin Temperature (SKT), and Inter-Beat Interval (IBI). Employing a Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm, we construct a model capable of evaluating anxiety levels in pregnant women. Our model attains an emotion recognition accuracy of 69.3%, marking achievements in HCI technology tailored for this specific user group. Furthermore, we introduce conceptual ideas for biofeedback on maternal emotions and its interactive mechanism, shedding light on improved monitoring and timely intervention strategies to enhance the emotional health of pregnant women.

Collective stress is the stress within a group or an organization. It affects individuals’ well-being and group productivity. HCI research has started exploring collective stress visualization to facilitate group awareness and collective coping via testing prototypes in controlled settings. However, an in-depth understanding of users’ needs and envisaged scenarios based on their authentic experiences are still lacking. In this study, we utilized a participatory approach called co-constructing stories to investigate how a collective stress visualization would be used in office workers’ authentic workday routines. We constructed use case stories with a group of office workers separately based on their personal lived experiences, using a design probe called AffectiveGarden. Our results categorized six clusters of benefits for collective coping through visualization and their implications for future design practice.

Pregnancy can be challenging for women as they experience various physical, psychological, and social changes that can lead to stress and potential mental health concerns. Being neglected in the long-term, sustained stress can increase the likelihood of postpartum depression, which can have significant negative impacts on mothers, families, and society. Therefore, managing stress promptly and maintaining emotional well-being is crucial for pregnant women to give a healthy birth and improve their postpartum life quality. Biofeedback is a secure and effective treatment for anxiety; nevertheless, conventional biofeedback systems often depend on intrusive sensors and require clinician support, thereby restricting their utilization primarily to clinical settings. To address this challenge, in this study, by incorporating biofeedback techniques with wearable sensors, musical displays, and ambient light, we created an immersive biofeedback environment where pregnant women could practice slow-paced resonant breathing to promote relaxation and reduce stress. GlowGrow system has been deployed in a regional hospital’s ante-natal clinic and evaluated by 24 pregnant women regarding its effectiveness and user experience. The results show that GlowGrow, as an effective relaxation intervention, could efficiently guide pregnant women to perform deep breathing and manage physiological stress.