LumiBreath – Interactive Breathing Lamp

Context & challenge

Stress and anxiety are widespread, especially among young people. At the same time, many everyday technologies are designed for productivity rather than calmness. LumiBreath asks:

• How can a familiar object like a lamp become a subtle guide for breathing?
• What happens when we design for bodily awareness instead of screen time?

The project is grounded in third-wave HCI and phenomenological perspectives on embodiment, treating technology as something that becomes part of lived experience rather than a separate tool.

My role – Concept, prototypes & code

I was responsible for the full technical and constructive side of the project:

• Co-created the initial idea and refined the concept for a breathing lamp.
• Designed and built all physical prototypes – from low-fi cardboard and wire frames to 3D-printed and laser-cut components.
• Developed the breathing mechanism based on a custom 3D-printed cam system driving the lamp “arms”.
• Implemented the complete Arduino code controlling NeoPixel light patterns and servo movement in synchronised breathing phases.
• Documented the wiring diagram, core code snippets and technical reasoning for the final report.

Design & interaction

Breathing rhythm

The lamp runs a guided 4–4–4–4 breathing exercise: inhale, hold, exhale and rest. Using soft colour transitions and subtle motion, the lamp shows when to breathe in, hold and breathe out without demanding constant visual focus.

Materiality & form

We iterated through multiple lamp-head geometries and elastic fabrics to achieve a soft, almost organic movement that diffuses light gently. The final form combines a translucent 3D-printed “cloud” head with a dark, semi-transparent textile cover that stretches as the lamp “breathes”.

Embodied experience

Interaction centres on breathing, not button-pressing. The user intentionally starts the exercise via a dedicated button and then mirrors the lamp’s rhythm, letting the body follow the slow pulse of light and movement.

Process & iterations

The design process moved through several rounds of sketching, low-fi prototypes, 3D models and technical experiments:

• Mechanical sketches and wire mock-ups to explore how the lamp head could “breathe”.
• Fusion 360 models and 3D-printed heads with different thickness and translucency to test light diffusion.
• Material tests with elastic fabrics to find a cover that both moved freely and let the NeoPixel colours shine through.
• Refinement of the breathing pattern and servo motion based on user feedback about comfort and “uncanny” movement.

Technical implementation

The lamp is controlled by an Arduino Plus board, a NeoPixel LED ring, an SG90 servo motor, a dedicated exercise button and an on/off switch.

• Breathing is implemented as a small state machine with phases FADE_IN, HOLD and FADE_OUT for both light and motion.
• Timing uses millis() instead of delay() to keep servo motion and light transitions synchronised and responsive.
• The NeoPixels shift between soft blues and greens, while the servo slowly expands and contracts the lamp head.

Together this creates a coherent, rhythmic behaviour that feels more like a breathing companion than a gadget.

Outcome & reflections

LumiBreath shows how everyday artefacts can quietly support mental wellbeing when interaction is grounded in the body. Reflections and user feedback highlighted that:

• Slow, non-verbal cues are calmer than explicit instructions or screens.
• Manual activation gives users a stronger sense of safety and control than automatic sensing.
• Iterating across both material form and code is essential when designing rich, embodied interactions.

The project strengthened my interest in combining technical making with theoretical perspectives on stress, embodiment and calm technology.