{"ID":22952683,"CreatedAt":"2026-09-17T02:12:05.498442134Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-09-20T18:11:56.143995915Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.18726","arxiv_id":"2609.18726","title":"Calmables: Demonstrating Closed-Loop Infrared Earables for Thermal Biofeedback and Relaxation Support","abstract":"We present Calmables, a walk-up demo of a closed-loop infrared earable that uses smart-ring heart rate to create subtle, ear-localized warming cues. Building on work on thermal comfort and in-ear infrared stimulation, Calmables explores warmth at the ear as a biosignal-adaptive cue for brief recovery moments following acute activation. A smartphone first establishes an individual resting baseline and derives a personalized heart-rate threshold, while the earable controller independently enforces an over-temperature cut-off and communication fail-safes. During the guided demo flow, attendees complete a brief rapid-breathing activation phase until their heart rate reaches the personalized threshold. This triggers an ear-localized warming cue followed by a short relaxation phase, while physiological changes are displayed on a live dashboard. Attendees can also manually explore different infrared stimulation intensities. To contextualize the demo, we report preliminary placebo-controlled UX ratings from 18 participants: participants rated the active prototype higher on perceived relaxation and perceived recovery support than an identical-looking placebo. Together, the demo illustrates how infrared earables can make physiological feedback tangible through subtle, biosignal-adaptive thermal cues.","short_abstract":"We present Calmables, a walk-up demo of a closed-loop infrared earable that uses smart-ring heart rate to create subtle, ear-localized warming cues. Building on work on thermal comfort and in-ear infrared stimulation, Calmables explores warmth at the ear as a biosignal-adaptive cue for brief recovery moments following...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.18726","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.18726v1","authors":"[\"Valeria Zitz\",\"Michael Küttner\",\"Jonas Hummel\",\"Taku Inoue\",\"Tobias Rödiger\",\"Michael Beigl\"]","published":"2026-09-16T14:26:28Z","proceeding":"cs.HC","tasks":"[\"cs.HC\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}