IIT Kharagpur’s Unique ‘Dhyanandroid’ Will Help You Measure & Fight Stress!

Stress is not a modern phenomenon. From worrying about the availability of food during the hunter-gatherer period to the tension that comes about when we are unable to complete the transaction for a pizza delivery—stress remains a crucial part of our lives.

According to experts, stress in small bursts of energy is always good. From athletics to challenging mental exercises, stress has a lot of benefits but only in small amounts. Once it crosses that threshold, it can quickly turn dangerous and cause serious harm. Strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, and mental illnesses such as depression, can all be linked back to this ‘feeling.’

Today, every person faces some sort of stress in their life, but youngsters seem to be more vulnerable to it. This is why, a free mobile app which promises to help users measure and fight stress, is a much-needed solution.

Developed by experts at IIT-Kharagpur, the app, called Dhyan Android, will be launched by June 10, 2018, in both Android and iPhone platforms.

As reported in the Times of India, the developers have stated that the app has two phases—self-evaluation and instructive meditation. In the ‘self-evaluation’ phase, the app asks questions to evaluate the stress level of the user in real time.

After assessing the cognitive performance, emotional intensity and aggression level, it moves on to the second phase which is ‘instructive meditation’ comprising of graded breathing and simple yoga techniques.

“This is the first comprehensive application, which allows user feedback and inculcates physiological signals along with instructive meditation,” said Aurobinda Routray, a senior faculty member at the institute, to TOI.

The app was developed by Routray, along with a team of researchers—Anirban Dasgupta, Anushree Basu, Shubhobrata Bhattacharya, Subhasmita Sahoo, Rajlakshmi Guha, and Manorama Nayak.

The team is also focussing on developing an app called Smart Yoga Monitor (SYM), which will provide a step-by-step guide to users and help them master different asanas.

“The app will help you virtually enter a yoga room through unobtrusive imaging and guide you through the asanas. Moreover, the app has sensors to detect faulty movements and alert users,” added Routray. The Smart Yoga Monitor app will be available by June-end.

We all live incredibly fast-paced lives, and any help to manage the anxiety that seems to always be hovering about is welcome. A big thanks to these IITians for making our lives stress free!

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

Hey, you may also like: IIT-M Folks Invent Material That Can Speed Up Wound Healing in Diabetics!

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