Happy Heart – Mental and Cardiac Health Management System is comprised of a precision photoelectric ear sensor, a processing unit and state-of-the-art training games software. The Happy Heart game evaluates real-time HRV (Heart Rate Variability) physiology, as well as utilize autonomic nervous system balance to regulate and train HRV with integrated “heart-brain games”, therefore helping to eliminate negative emotions, such as anxiety, nervous tension, depression etc., and boost user to achieve an autonomic nervous system balanced state.
The root of the Heart to Game technology is the H2G device's ability to monitor the variance in a user's heart rate, which, through interpolation, can be used to construct an image of the
subject's overall state of focus, awareness, and metaphysical calm. Backed up by a lot of science and studies, the culmination of a right-state-of-being in these physiologic properties is a serene yet active state of consciousness quite akin to what athletes experience when they're 'in the zone.'
The H2G device is a rather small USB connected dongle that draws its readings from the subject via a small clip that can be worn on the finger or earlobe. In software its measurements can be graphed or simply interpolated into three states: red for lack of focus, blue for mediocre, and green when the ideal state has been reached. When totally unfocused, our heart rate variance produced erratic and shallow graphs. After some coaching to breath regularly, imagine our heart growing within us, and focus upon a comforting and happy thought, like our pet, we eventually arrived at the proper state of focus, where upon our graph it took on the shape of a repeating frequency wave.
Applied to gaming, the ability to monitor a user's state of being in this regard opens up a number of interesting avenues for innovation. Digital Bamboo's first game to make use of the
tech is Happy Heart,
which focuses primarily upon training users to reach this focused consciousness quickly and while actively engaged in onscreen action or when beset by distractions. Various games like the Bodhi Tree application let users cause a tree to grow and blossom when focus is achieved. Others add action, like a game of hammering moles, in which lag is applied to the user's hammer movement when the player is unfocused, eventually giving way to real time movement when the player reaches 'the zone.'
