Mandy Draws

Collaborators: Samantha Boutt, Amanda Cheung, Daniel Rzeppa, Devin Smith, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

Many people who suffer from anxiety do not have access to resources to address their condition. Common mental health resources, such as therapy, seek a more long-term approach, which requires time commitment and can be costly. In addition, many anxiety attacks can occur when people are alone. Hence, we plan to address this issue through a more immediate, short-term treatment that can be used on the daily. Our solution will utilize light and music therapy and is marketed as an emotional support animal lamp.

We will be measuring anxiety by using a galvanic skin response (GSR) sensor. This sensor has two electrodes that we will place on the test subject’s fingers to measure the changes in the electrical conductivity of their skin. Higher levels of skin perspiration result in greater electrical conductance, which can be attributed to elevated levels of anxiety. Once the electrical conductance reaches a threshold, we will project a calming light through a dog-shaped lamp and play peaceful music to calm down the user. 

To complete the desired objectives, the system was divided into three subsystems: a) software consisting of a LabVIEW VI and code from an Arduino Leonardo b) a series of filters in the hardware to acquire the signal and c) the lamp itself, which consists of a 3D printed dog shaped lamp, RGB LEDs and mosfets. The hardware component was interfaced with the software through connecting a DAQ board to LabVIEW’s DAQ Assistant.

​

Materials:

Resin, RGB LEDs, and MOSFETs for lamp unit

Bronze, wire, and Velcro for GSR sensors