Involuntary Exhalation Control by Facial Vibration

Breathing affects physical and mental health as well as skills in playing sports and musical instruments. Previous studies proposed various methods using sensory stimuli to assist users with controlling their breathing voluntarily by paying attention to it. However, focusing on breathing is difficult when they play sports or instruments because there are many factors to focus on. Therefore, we propose a wearable system that can control the user’s exhalation involuntarily by facial vibration; pushing air from the cheeks independent of the user’s voluntary breathing. Our system can control the exhaled air velocity and duration by changing the frequency, amplitude, and duration of the facial vibration. We consider our system will help novices acquire advanced skills in playing wind instruments like circular breathing.