_JPG.jpg)
Heart of Insomnia -
A Physical Prototype
According to the Mayo Clinic, insomnia is a “common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep.” Symptoms include:
-
Having difficulties falling or staying asleep
-
Feeling cranky, depressed, or anxious
Insomnia affects approximately 12% of Americans, but additionally affects many around the world, according to a survey completed by the American Academy of Sleep.
This project, shaped by a mix between personal experience and physical prototyping, follows a "story": You attempt to fall asleep, but perhaps you're anxious... your heart rate is elevated as you lie in bed, nervous about one thing or another. Eventually, your mind calms enough to sleep. The different phases of the heart follows each emotion faced by the heart; initial anxiety, elevated heart rate, then calm as sleep finally comes. Myself and a fellow classmate created an artistically focused prototype, centered around a heart, to portray personal themes of what it might be like to lie in bed unable to sleep, heart racing.
Over the course of 2 months, we used Arduino, JavaScript, and HTML coding, 3D modeling, 3D printing, wiring, and designing to make this project come to fruition.
Timeline
March 2025 - May 2025
Platform
Arduino, Web
Role
UX Designer, Coder, Modeler
The design process began with a series of sketches, one pictured on the left. When pitching the topic, I had envisioned a heart at the center of the design and LEDs signifying the blood flowing out of the heart model somehow, with LEDS, embedded speakers, proximity sensors, a light sensor, etc.
After researching Arduino capabilities and considering time restraints, my partner and I decided to narrow down the scope to a more manageable few pieces of technology: LEDs, heart rate sensor, and 2 speakers.
Our next task was finding a heart model that would fit our requirements: anatomical, hollow, and able to be 3D printed. After locating a free to use model, work began to retro-fit it for the project.
I modeled a rectangular base for it to sit on, with holes created through the top and front so that the LED wires and Arduino breadboard could comfortably sit inside the base, then be wired up to the heart model. The heart was also cut in half so that we could place the LED strip better.
The next aspect of the project was one of the most challenging: coding the heart rate monitor, LEDs, laptop speakers with Arduino, HTML, and Javascript.
This brought a different set of challenges, because the p5.serial port needed to have a local server running for the websocket connection to be met. To do this, we needed to run a single command to install local libraries (npm install -g p5.serialserver), but it ran into an error. We downloaded Node.js (which is an open-source JavaScript runtime environment that runs JavaScript outside of a web browser), as well as Chocolatey (which simplifies software installation and management on Windows systems).
Once both of these were downloaded, we ran a command from Chocolatey on an Administrative command window and waited for the packages to be installed, then rebooted. After the reboot, we were able to get the “npm install -g p5.serialserver” command to run without error. We then ran the startserver.js script using Node and the file path to the startserver.js file. After this, the server was up and running with no issues playing the audio.
The final sequence was as follows: a standby sequence, which showed white, where the heart rate sensor would pickup the user's heart rate . The next was the chasing red, which would “show” the user’s heart rate through the LEDs in quick succession, looking like blood in veins working its way into the heart. Next was the flashing red-blue, with audio of a heart beating quickly. This signifies the user getting anxious; the heart rate increasing, unable to fall asleep. Finally, the last sequence is a slow rainbow, showing "sleep" like a colorful night light.
The reason we did this sort of project is to give an uncomfortable subject matter a representation that shows a light at the end of the tunnel. Even though you might be in bed, anxious about something, with your heart rate elevated, there is sleep at the end of it. We would have liked to add more phases to the project (such as the different parts of sleep: REM, deep, core, etc.), but with our many issues we ran into, we simply didn’t have the time. If this prototype were to become a full art project, there are a few more things besides the sleep elements that we might add, such as: using a more accurate heart sensor that outputs consistently correct data, add bluetooth connection for phones, etc. We also wish to potentially rework the heart model so that it slots together, rather than a simple cut in the middle (rather than using tape).
Overall, this was a challenging yet fulfilling project. Many at the showcase expressed that it was a captivating idea that it looked very interesting, and invoked conversation about the topic. That’s all we could have hoped for.