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"When you're stressed out, a relaxing yoga session or curling up with a good book can help take your mind off whatever it is that's weighing you down. But as nice as it can be to engage in a hobby or exercise as a means of relief, you can't truly destress until you acknowledge the cause of your discomfort and restructure the way you think about that stimulus.\nHow do you do that? One way is through biofeedback, or the use of medical monitoring devices to increase bodily awareness. For example, a doctor applies an EEG to a patient suffering from migraines and displays the test results live, explaining what the squiggly lines mean and how they might relate to her symptoms. \nThe goal of biofeedback: by understanding the origins of their ailments, patients might be better equipped to control and reduce their symptoms \u2014 with the aid of technology at first, then all on their own. \nSEE ALSO: 10 Best iPhone Armbands\n\nIn an attempt to make wellness both easy and fun to achieve, the Irish tech company Galvanic Limited has developed a biofeedback device that can be used in conjunction with your gadgets. Called the PIP, the Bluetooth-powered biosensor rests between your thumb and pointer fingertips. \nThe PIP measures stress levels via galvanic skin response, or skin conductance, and communicates that data to your electronics as you play games that Galvanic has developed to work with the device. The device's creators describe the process on their Kickstarter page: \"By using games as the context for biofeedback, the user learns how to relax quickly, while having fun at the same time.\"\nThese games include Relax and Race, a game that counterintuitively associates low stress levels with greater speeds. So the more calm you feel as you're playing, the faster your dragon avatar will fly. \nIn another first-person game called Loom, a serene state of mind corresponds to a more pleasant environment. As you begin to achieve a Zen state, you'll see the world of the game shift from a harsh winter to a beautiful summer. And if you're interested in group play, Galvanic has created a lie detector game for the PIP.\nThe PIP is iOS (iPhone 4S and later, iPad 3 and later) and Android compatible and costs only $79 if you make an \"early bird\" pledge to back Galvanic's project on Kickstarter. \nAt time of writing, Galvanic's PIP campaign had raised about a quarter of its $100,000 goal; it ends July 20.\nImage courtesy of Galvanic Limited/Kickstarter\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/06/20/pip-biosensor-stress/>