From Research to Experimentation

Physical computing wearable project is moving out of research-landia and into experimentation mode!

After discussing options and ideas with many folks and reading up on migraines, I have decided to begin small and build on the project. In order to get a real sense of what factors trigger my headaches, I am going to need to track a variety of factors over a longer period of time (at the very least, a month).

The basic premise is that my brain/nervous system dislikes change. When certain factors change too much –  both external (changing weather conditions and light) and internal (stress, emotional state, dietary factors) – my nervous system interprets the changing stimulus negatively resulting in headaches.

I will track these different factors as they change over time and determine if there is a correlation with my headaches. I will start by tracking one environmental trigger at a time.

Initial environmental factors I am going to sense with a wearable:

• Ambient light exposure (will most likely use one of these AMS-TAOS sensors)
• Barometric pressure changes, i.e. weather changes (best results require I track air pressure, temperature, humidity and altitude)

I will also create some sort of bracelet/wearable with buttons so I can record certain actions:

• Headache occurrence
• Meal intake
• Water intake
• Where I am: ITP, Home, Inside, Outside

I will also use a FitBit Flex to track my sleep and physical activity level (i.e. walking, running, etc.)

And lastly, other things I would like to explore later down the road (most likely next semester):

• Stress (would sense using Galvanic Stress Response or other options)
• Fatigue
• Data Visualization of how these factors change over time and correlate (if at all) with headaches

If I determine one of the above factors triggers my headaches, I can choose to go deeper in my exploration later. For instance, if light exposure really is a problem, I might try and determine if it is the type of light (fluorescent and sunlight), or the wavelength of light (mainly blue), or just simply the amount of exposure (intensity/brightness + time).

The ultimate goal with this project is to better understand what factors really do cause my headaches, and which factors are a non-issue – hopefully leading to less headaches! It will be easier to test and eliminate triggers one at a time than try and track everything at once.

And now for Next Steps (and some hopefully realistic goals):

• Purchase AMS-TAOS ambient light sensor (Goal: End of Month)
• Purchase barometric pressure sensor + humidity sensor (Goal: Next week)
• Brainstorm ideas for button bracelet and research arduino wearables (by Monday)
• Test sensors and figure out how to use! (early November)
• Design and create light/air pressure wearable (early-to-mid November)
• Track data and gather the results! (Mid-to-late November or early December)