title: Positive technology: a free mobile platform for the self-management of psychological stress.
abstract: We describe the main features and preliminary evaluation of Positive Technology, a free mobile platform for the self-management of psychological stress (http://positiveapp.info/). The mobile platform features three main components: (i) guided relaxation, which provides the user with the opportunity of browsing a gallery of relaxation music and video-narrative resources for reducing stress; (ii) 3D biofeedback, which helps the user learning to control his/her responses, by visualizing variations of heart rate in an engaging 3D environment; (iii) stress tracking, by the recording of heart rate and self-reports. We evaluated the Positive Technology app in an online trial involving 32 participants, out of which 7 used the application in combination with the wrist sensor. Overall, feedback from users was satisfactory and the analysis of data collected online indicated the capability of the app for reducing perceived stress levels. A future goal is to improve the usability of the application and include more advanced stress monitoring features, based on the analysis of heart rate variability indexes.
authors.affiliation: Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gaggioli
authors.affiliation: Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cipresso
authors.affiliation: Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Serino
authors.affiliation: Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Danilo Marco
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Campanaro
authors.affiliation: Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pallavicini
authors.affiliation: Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Brenda K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Wiederhold
authors.affiliation: Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riva
mesh_terms: D020811:Biomedical Technology / Q000639:trends*; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D063731:Mobile Applications / Q000639:trends*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000639:trends*; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000069350:Telerehabilitation / Q000379:methods*