Show HN: Live breath detection and biofeedback from a phone microphone (github.com)
My prior work in emergency medicine and intensive care was closesly linked to breathing, mostly in critical situations... and let me to reevaluate my own way of breathing. over time one question popped into my mind: can medical knowledge and biofeedback make an app actually promote self-awareness instead of attaching your goals to the award system of the app.
it combines signal processing, a breathing state machine and ML. The state machine follows inhale, exhale and transitions in the mic signal. A quality layer rejects noisy or ambiguous windows before signals are used for feedback. All processing is done on-device, no speech or raw audio is uploaded.
What I'm trying to avoid is turning breathing into another score or game. The app gives feedback on rhythm, depth and regularity, but the point is more "notice what you are doing" than "perform well".
I'd be interested in feedback, especially from people who have worked on signal processing, health UX, or Android/iOS audio issues.
18 comments
[ 48.2 ms ] story [ 1031 ms ] threadI tried to do something very similar a year or 2 ago, more directed towards meditation. (Ie as a helper that uses breath to detect a wandering mind). A microphone in itself wasn't sufficient in my case, and detection was quite hard. I ended up using wired earbuds with microphones.
Nice focus as well, less scoring and more signal. All the best in your project!