S O P R O is a handmade light sculpture that provides biofeedback according to people's heart rate variation - measured with a heart beat sensor.
Sopro is a self-exploration experience that makes visible the signs one’s body gives about their current state through the reading and translation of heartbeats in a beautiful, whimsical and non-traditional way.
This interactive light sculpture is an artistic exploration of contemporary society and its relationship with sensory and information overload. Its form is a culmination of a study of the current tendency of reconnection of the body and mind through practices like mindfulness, meditation or yoga that can utilize awareness of the present and breathwork to achieve those results.
The experience intends to bring ideas of mindful living to non-practitioners while allowing people to access their bodies’ physiological behavior as visual feedback with the use of colors. It aims to provoke people’s thoughts on the importance of being present in the moment and to demonstrate that the mind has effects on the body.
RESEARCH
The graph above was made according to the ideas of Alan Watkins¹ and corresponds the state of the heartbeats through the heart rate variability, HRV, to feelings and hormones released in the body according to that heart's state. What matters for our bodies is not how fast or slow our hearts beat, but how coherent they behave. The more coherent, better hormones are released and better feelings can be perceived, such as determination or curiosity, giving the person more clarity in their thoughts. For erratic HRV, the body enters a state of danger becoming hard for reasonable, wise decision making.
The only way to achieve such coherence consciously is though the breathing, that being the most conscious function of one's body. It is possible to see changes through the regulation of breathing immediately, without any training, which allows it to be a mindful practice.
Watkins have an acronym to remind people how to regulate their breathing: B.R.E.A.T.H.E. that means:
BReath Rhythmically Evenly And Through (the) Heart Everyday
The idea is to concentrate the breathing feeling in the cheast area and inhale and exhale in rhytmic ways, for and example inhaling for 6 seconds, and exhaling for 4 seconds. Practicing it facilitate us to think clearer during stressfull days that could otherwise put our bodies in danger state.
¹Alan Watkins is a physician, neuroscientist and founder of the Complete Coherence, a consultancy that is specialized in developing enlightened leadership through individual and team development.
SCULPTURE BIOFEEDBACK
The biofeedback in the sculpture is given according to the beat-to-beat interval measured in the performative audience. Hectic heartbeats take the body to an emergency state, turning decision making less intuitive. Coherent signals correspond to better energy flowing through the body and brain as well as better hormones released and clearer thoughts.
for more about the process and research read:
