Echovibe

What it does

Echovibe is a wearable device designed for people with asthma. It monitors the air around the user and gently vibrates to warn them before symptoms arise — prompting them to leave risky environments in time.

Your inspiration

The idea came from a cold winter afternoon in high school. The windows in our classroom stayed shut all morning. By lunch, the air felt heavy, but we didn’t think much of it. Then, during a quiet class, one of my classmates suddenly started gasping for air. He had asthma — and something in the room, maybe poor ventilation or a spike in carbon monoxide, had silently triggered it. Watching him struggle while everything around us seemed “normal” left a mark on me. That day I realized: not all danger is loud. Echovibe was born from this — a way to catch the quiet threats in our environment before they catch us.

How it works

Echovibe uses a dual-sensing system to track both environmental triggers and breathing irregularities. When a single environmental factor—such as harmful gas, PM2.5, or temperature/humidity—exceeds a safe threshold, the device delivers a short vibration. If multiple triggers are abnormal, it vibrates several times to indicate higher danger and prompt the user to leave the area. A stretch-based pressure sensor on the abdomen tracks breathing rhythm. If irregular patterns continue, the device gives a long vibration. If the issue persists over two minutes, Echovibe automatically sends an alert to a caregiver or doctor via Bluetooth. By combining real-time data with intuitive alerts, Echovibe helps users avoid hazardous conditions before symptoms occur. It operates fully independently, without requiring a phone or app. The device reacts within seconds, offering early-stage warnings that are easy to understand and act on.

Design process

I started by reviewing medical literature on asthma triggers, especially environmental factors like PM2.5, toxic gases, and humidity. My initial goal was to build a predictive model based on how these triggers compound risk—but I soon found there wasn’t enough large-scale data to support this approach. So I pivoted to real-time sensing. I built an Arduino-based prototype with environmental sensors and a vibration motor to deliver immediate alerts when thresholds were crossed. This simple setup proved the concept worked. To address physiological factors, I added a stretch-based pressure sensor to track abdominal breathing. I tested various vibration patterns: short for a single environmental trigger, multiple pulses for overlapping risks, and long vibrations for sustained irregular breathing. If the condition persists, the device can notify a caregiver. User interviews highlighted two needs: a discreet design that doesn't “label” the wearer as ill, and accurate alerts with minimal false positives. These insights shaped sensor placement, response logic, and form factor. Today, Echovibe functions independently and also has potential to collect anonymized, consent-based data to support future research on asthma and environmental health.

How it is different

Most asthma wearables focus on physical triggers like exercise or stress, using breathing rate as a proxy for potential attacks. Echovibe instead focuses on a commonly overlooked cause — the environmental side of asthma. What makes it different is the way it combines multiple air quality signals with breathing data to deliver context-aware alerts, rather than reacting to just a single metric. It provides discreet haptic feedback without relying on screens or apps, and it is designed to run locally, ensuring real-time response and user privacy. Beyond personal use, Echovibe has the potential to contribute anonymized data to open research platforms, enabling deeper understanding of how different environmental triggers interact to influence asthma — a dimension many existing solutions fail to address.

Future plans

Echovibe is a functional prototype. My next step is to refine the breathing detection algorithm to fit different body types and patterns. I plan to collaborate with respiratory specialists and asthma clinics for small-scale trials, gathering real-world feedback to reduce false alerts and improve trigger logic. The goal is to develop a low-cost, scalable version for healthcare providers or direct users in high-risk air quality regions. With user consent, anonymized data may be shared on open platforms to support broader research into environmental triggers and asthma prevention.

Awards

Echovibe was awarded the iF DESIGN STUDENT AWARD 2025 https://ifdesign.com/en/winner-ranking/project/ecovibe/691730