Build pain and happiness resilience for better health
This is design research where I explore co-designing better mental health through wearable health technology. It is a first sketch for a project that interests me for many reasons - personally, mentally, health promotion, socially, wearable technology combining Internet of Things and AI and its relational possibilities to co-design social and local communities, using creative activities such as dance, art and music making, hiking in nature and geographic zones related to work, nature, home, performance.
The primary objective of this study is to examine the design possibilities of mediating psychological pain, through the use of wearable smart sensors—specifically the Oura ring. By transforming subjective experiences of anxiety into objective biometric data, the research aims to validate the user's physiological and mental reality, counteract the "gaslighting" effect inherent in C-PTSD, and develop new service concepts focusing on taking ownership to mental pain through collaborative co-design.
Methods: co-design and autoethnography
This research employs a dual-methodological approach. First, a one-month self-ethnography was conducted, during which the researcher documented the personal use of an Oura ring to monitor heart rate variability (HRV), sleep, movement, and temperature. This phase focused on identifying the specific moments when daily stressorstransitioned into trauma triggers and explored the collective user-data shared within the Oura "fellowship" called "Circles". Second, the study utilised explorative co-design workshops involving invited participants. These workshops leveraged design thinking and brainstorming to translate individual and collective data into creative concepts for symptom management and habit formation.
Conclusion
The integration of wearable technology into the recovery process for C-PTSD offers a promising pathway toward resilience. By providing access to one's biometric data, individuals can co-design personalised strategies to calm their nervous systems and face psychological pain with increased agency. This paper concludes that wearable sensor technologies do more than track health; they allow the "ring bearer" to take ownership of the pain, navigate the darkness of trauma through data-driven self-awareness.
to co-design personalised strategies to calm the nervous systems and face psychological pain with increased agency
A paper abstract is sent for review to the upcoming Universal Design Conference in Galway 2026:
