HeartMail addresses the psychological harm caused by anxiety, isolation, and uncertainty. Pandemics can cause social problems such as increased stress, increased hospitalization, and an increased need to check in on loved ones to see if they are safe. People in remote locations may experience collateral effects during pandemics due to the increased separation and possible difficulties in communication. In remote locations during pandemics, isolated personnel may feel more hopeless or powerless. This is amplified if the person can't return home quickly to be with an ill or dying loved one.
Even when people in remote locations are used to being away from their loved ones, stress can stack. In times of pandemics, it’s not just the remote personnel who are stressed, it’s everyone. This added stress could lead to poorer communication overall between people in remote locations and their loved ones. Additionally, pandemic illness could impair or prevent someone from communicating with a loved one in a remote location. And even if both parties remain healthy during a pandemic, it’s likely they would want to check on each other more, but be unable to due to different time zones, work hours, or sleep schedules.
We've prepared for these collateral effects of pandemics in remote locations with HeartMail. HeartMail is a wristband IoT device with a heartbeat sensor and display interface. The device uses NASA's Sense-it technology to send data from space to Earth. HeartMail allows two people to stay connected by sharing their heartbeats with each other. Remote personnel and their loved ones would each wear a HeartMail wearable. The HeartMail pulses by user request to illustrate the heartbeat of a loved one on the other side of the band. The wearable HeartMail is a pathway to reassurance that can be accessed anytime by either person via a non-interrupting ping. It’s a simple way to check in regardless of what else is going on.
Feeling a loved one’s heartbeat on their own wrist, HeartMail wearers can get reassurance -- when they need it -- without worrying they’ll be interrupting someone’s day. In some cases, phone calls or texts simply aren’t possible. HeartMail can still connect far away loved ones via heartbeat in situations where they can’t otherwise communicate, such as with babies, young children, and people who are sedated or in comas.
Our team chose A World Away because we want to support the human connections that we all have. We want to help the humans who may be isolated, unsure, and stressed by providing a tangible, on-demand, and reassuring reminder that their loved ones are safe.
We designed the data’s journey using the NASA project Sense-It (https://techport.nasa.gov/view/5306). The Sense-It system was designed by the Glenn Research Center as a wearable human health and performance monitoring device. This device is already configured to send an astronaut’s heartbeat data to Earth.
For the journey from the Earth to the astronaut, the team used the Fitbit API and JavaScript to capture heartbeat data. We built our wireframe in Balsamiq and project page using Vue, Tailwind CSS, and LetsEncrypt. Graphics and video were created in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Spark, and Adobe Rush. See the project page here.
With a team divided by two time zones and varying experience levels, we encountered many problems. Initially, we had to decide unanimously what project could be completed from concept to working prototype in two days. Once this was decided, the concept unfolded pretty naturally and everyone found their areas of interest very quickly. Most web development came along well, but there were some hang ups on the heartbeat data animations in the final few hours.
As a team we developed the concept, marketing and branding, design, copy, and demo of a useful and important mental health tool to answer the challenge prompt. This two day process allowed team members to practice and improve many web development skills while supporting and helping other team members along the way. This connection during such an unprecedented time in the world is an example of the importance and significance of human connection, despite the distance that separated our team.
During the two days, we were able to develop a working and well-thought-out page to share the product, as well as a commercial to show it off. To demonstrate the technology, we built a live heartbeat animation to visualize the data received from a team member’s Fitbit device.
NASA Project: Wireless System for Continuous Cardiopulmonary Monitoring in a Space Environment, Phase II
https://techport.nasa.gov/view/5306
Video clips from International Space Station B-Roll, Earth Views: https://images.nasa.gov/details-Earth%20Views
Video clips from ISS Expedition 42 Time Lapse Video of Earth: https://images.nasa.gov/details-jsc2015m000232
Video clips from Intersecting the Magical and the Technical: https://images.nasa.gov/details-Intersecting_the_Magical_and_the_Technical
CINDI-CNOFS Satellite image: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/cindi-cnofs.html
Orlan Suit RadioSkaf Microsatellite after release from the ISS during the second EVA on Expedition 12: https://images.nasa.gov/details-iss012e16908
Fitbit Development Heart Rate API: https://dev.fitbit.com/build/reference/web-api/heart-rate/
Free stock images:
https://pixabay.com/photos/milky-way-universe-person-stars-1023340/
https://unsplash.com/photos/UH-xs-FizTk
https://unsplash.com/photos/a104tlUezug
https://unsplash.com/photos/yGUuMIqjIrU
https://unsplash.com/photos/gtQddXwuS18
https://pixabay.com/photos/international-space-station-iss-67774/
Luxery, a song from the Youtube Open Source Audio Library: https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music?nv=1