Recent research published in The Journal of Physiology sheds light on a fascinating connection between breathing patterns and pupil size—two physiological factors that reveal much about our emotional and cognitive states. The study not only underscores how closely our breath is linked to our mental well-being but also opens up exciting possibilities for enhancing emotional distress monitoring using wearable technologies.
The study reveals that breathing patterns are reflected in changes in pupil diameter, with rhythmic breathing linked to both arousal and emotional states. When you take a breath, it doesn’t just affect your lungs; it can also influence the size of your pupils, which are connected to the brain's emotional centers. This intricate relationship between respiration and brain activity opens new doors for understanding how our body responds to stress, emotion, and cognitive load.
The findings point to the olfactory cortex as a key player in this process. This brain region, which processes smells, is also involved in how we respond to emotional stimuli, linking respiration to broader neural activity. This connection emphasizes just how much our breath can tell us about our internal emotional state.
The Potential for Emotional Distress Monitoring
This research offers intriguing insights into how breathing patterns and pupil size are connected, providing a potential new way to monitor emotional distress. While breathing has long been a signal for stress, adding pupil dilation could help create a more complete picture of emotional and cognitive states. Wearables like iBreve’s respiratory technology, which already tracks breathing patterns, might benefit from incorporating pupil size changes, offering a fuller understanding of emotional well-being.
Enhancing Robot Empathy with Emotional Cues from Breathing
Breathing could play a key role in enhancing human-robot communication, particularly when it comes to understanding emotional states. By monitoring changes in breathing patterns, robots may be able to better sense and respond to human emotions in real time. This deeper understanding of emotional cues could enable robots to adapt their behavior, ensuring smoother, more intuitive collaboration. In high-precision or emotionally demanding tasks, such responsiveness could help reduce stress and create a more supportive working environment between humans and robots.
Looking Ahead
At iBreve, we’re excited by these possibilities and continue to explore ways to harness the power of breathing as a marker for emotional well-being. As research continues to uncover the deep connections between our breath, emotions and cognitive states, the potential for improving emotional distress monitoring - and ultimately human-robot interaction - is immense. By integrating these physiological insights into wearable & AI technologies, we can build smarter, more empathetic robots and provide individuals with more effective tools for managing their mental health.
As part of the EMBRACE project within the ARISE initiative, we are focusing on integrating verbal cues, gestures, posture and emotional distress recognition to enhance human-robot interactions. This multimodal approach enables robots to better understand and respond to human emotional and physical needs in real time, fostering more intuitive and supportive interactions. In settings like assisted living, this integration can make robots more intuitive and supportive. By recognizing both emotional and physical cues, robots can adapt their actions to provide more personalized assistance, improving human-robot collaboration in everyday tasks.
Henningsen, R. A., et al. (2023). Breathing and pupil size: A new window into emotional and cognitive states. The Journal of Physiology, 601(7), 1551-1568. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP287205
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.