Avatar-Based Breathing Retraining
Around 10% of people in the UK are estimated to have some form of dysfunctional breathing, which can result in breathlessness, hyperventilation and dizziness. Learning to breathe correctly can also be a key part of managing other health conditions, such as asthma, back pain and anxiety.
Currently, people struggling with dysfunctional breathing are treated with simple breathing exercises. However, this new system proposed will provide additional high-tech visual and audio feedback to guide patients through a process in which they gradually learn the correct muscular control of their breathing.
This personalised system will create an individual avatar of the patient, showing the actions of the muscles in real time as they breathe in and out. The system will also be integrated into a behaviour change intervention, providing patients with support from a physiotherapist to help them change their breathing behaviours.
The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and is being led by the University of Salford, in collaboration with the University of Plymouth, University of Stirling and the Glasgow School of Art.
Team