'Mood changing' Doppel wearable device taps into body's natural rhythm to boost spirits

Doppel is a new breed of wearable device, one that its developers say can actually change the wearer's mood by delivering a tactile beat to their wrist.

The makers of 'doppel' call it the next generation of wearable technology - one that can actually change the mood of the user. They say the device taps in to the body's natural rhythm and gives the wearer control over how alert or relaxed they are.

Similar to the way that upbeat music can motivate the body, while downbeat music relaxes; doppel provides a tactile beat to the wearer's wrist that they can adjust to make themselves feel more alert or relaxed.

"Doppel, as it stands, delivers two separate rhythms -- one high and one low. The high rhythm essentially delivers a rhythm which is higher than your resting heartbeat, and the lower one which is lower. And it works in a very similar way as to when you listen to upbeat or downbeat music. So, in the same way that upbeat music can excite you or bring you up, make you more alert; doppel does this. And it does the same thing with the downbeat tempo which you feel calming you down and even helping you into sleep," said Andreas Bilicki, co-creator of doppel.

Bilicki is part of a team of scientists, engineers and designers who met on a joint course run by Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art. Their research into psycho-physiology - the way a person's mind and body affect one-another - inspired them to design a new technology that could harness the body's innate response to rhythm. Together they formed Team Turquoise to make their hypothesis a reality.