In working with the HRMI over the last few weeks, I’ve been intrigued by how easy it is to manipulate my own heart rate, either slowing it by sitting still and breathing deeply, or speeding it up simply by waving my arms a little. I also happened to watch some video of jellyfish, and I noticed that the rhythm with which they move is reminiscent of a heart beat or pulse. So, this week I decided to make a little game/tool for myself. I created a Processing sketch that uses the data from the HRMI to control playback of a video of swimming jellyfish. When my heart rate falls within an average range, the video plays back normally. If my heart rate slows, the video plays faster and faster; if it rises beyond the average range, the video slows down. In this video, you can see the heart rate displayed in the Processing window while the video plays.
Jellyfish movie controlled by heart rate from Caroline Brown on Vimeo.