Application of facial neuromuscular electrical stimulation (fNMES) in psychophysiological research: Practical recommendations based on a systematic review of the literature.

Facial neuromuscular electrical stimulation (fNMES), which allows for the non-invasive and physiologically sound activation of facial muscles, has great potential for investigating fundamental questions in psychology and neuroscience, such as the role of proprioceptive facial feedback in emotion induction and emotion recognition, and may serve for clinical applications, such as alleviating symptoms of depression. However, despite illustrious origins in the 19th-century work of Duchenne de Boulogne, the practical application of fNMES remains largely unknown to today's researchers in psychology. In addition, published studies vary dramatically in the stimulation parameters used, such as stimulation frequency, amplitude, duration, and electrode size, and in the way they reported them. Because fNMES parameters impact the comfort and safety of volunteers, as well as its physiological (and psychological) effects, it is of paramount importance to establish recommendations of good practice and to ensure studies can be better compared and integrated. Here, we provide an introduction to fNMES, systematically review the existing literature focusing on the stimulation parameters used, and offer recommendations on how to safely and reliably deliver fNMES and on how to report the fNMES parameters to allow better cross-study comparison. In addition, we provide a free webpage, to easily visualise fNMES parameters and verify their safety based on current density. As an example of a potential application, we focus on the use of fNMES for the investigation of the facial feedback hypothesis

Robot Mirroring: Promoting Empathy with an Artificial Agent by Reflecting the User’s Physiological Affective States

Self-tracking aims to increase awareness, decrease undesired behaviors, and ultimately lead towards a healthier lifestyle. However, inappropriate communication of selftracking results might cause the opposite effect. Subtle selftracking feedback is an alternative that can be provided with the aid of an artificial agent representing the self. Hence, we propose a wearable pet that reflects the user’s affective states through visual and haptic feedback. By eliciting empathy and fostering helping behaviors towards it, users would indirectly help themselves. A wearable prototype was built, and three user studies performed to evaluate the appropriateness of the proposed affective representations. Visual representations using facial and body cues were clear for valence and less clear for arousal. Haptic interoceptive patterns emulating heart-rate levels matched the desired feedback urgency levels with a saturation frequency. The integrated visuo-haptic representations matched to participants own affective experience. From the results, we derived three design guidelines for future robot mirroring wearable systems: physical embodiment, interoceptive feedback, and customization

Garment design for an ambulatory pregnancy monitoring system

Constant pregnancy monitoring is a promising alternative to reduce the number of stillbirths and preterm delivery due to false alarms. Tele-monitoring systems can provide regular, accurate and timely monitoring to re-duce risks, costs and the time the mothers-to-be spend at hospitals. A smart garment integrated with sensors and a flexible printed circuit board for ambula-tory pregnancy monitoring is proposed. A study was conducted to gather user requirements to ensure comfort during long registrations of Fetal Heart Rate (FHR) and Electrohysterogram (EHG). Based on those requirements, several garment alternatives for the monitoring system are proposed and evaluated

Augmenting interoceptive awareness with off-the-shelfsensors using visuo-haptic emotional stimulus

Wearable sensing technologies allow us to monitor and track a wealth of information about bodily states. Tracking applications rely on abstract numerical or graphical visualizations to make this information accessible to us. However, these visualizations can be hard to interpret, and even be harmful to already vulnerable groups. Hence, we propose to give feedback in the form of an enhanced heart rate interoception and an embodied artificial agent. This method relies on the person’s inherent understanding of their own body. It is a subtle and more natural way to gauge the meaning of off-the-shelf sensors’ feedback. A wearable pet prototype that presents emotion through visuo-haptic feedback is evaluated in a match and a mismatch group. Participants in both groups answered self-report and perceived affect of the interoceptive feedback without significant differences. However, the groups’ perceived closeness to the pet differed significantly