Emotional Eating Companion
Sally is a wearable companion that helps to disrupt emotional eating without exposing privacy.
Emotional eating is a habit of turning to comfort food to cope with particular moods. Emotional eaters find it difficult to stop because the physical habit of stuffing their faces has become ingrained over time. They are typically not aware of how it’s triggered and how much they ate. Moreover, they are reluctant to share the problem as they are afraid of being judged. This perpetuates other problems such as negative body image, stress and obesity. Research conducted in Singapore, Taiwan and S. Korea identified traits - self-consciousness, anxiety and emotionality, in the user. By detecting emotional eating through hand-to-mouth motion, Sally is able to intervene in emotional eating at the right time. The bracelet creates sharp sensations on the eating hand when emotional eating reaches an unhealthy level, allowing emotional eaters to become aware of the behavior. Emotional eaters can also learn about their mood triggers through the app and better manage their emotions in the future.