Today, we’re delighted to announce that research conducted by Trinity College Dublin found that using Pip can effectively reduce stress.
The study, “Smartphone applications utilizing biofeedback can aid stress reduction”, compared the use of the Pip’s companion Apps with a conventional gaming App with 50 university students. It concluded that using Pip significantly reduced the short-term psychological and physiological signs of stress. These findings were recently published in Frontiers of Psychology, a leading peer-reviewed psychology journal.
Research Findings
Researchers found that 30 minutes use of the Pip following a stress-induction procedure significantly reduced heart rate and perceived stress in a sample of 25 university students, compared to an equally-sized control group playing a conventional gaming App for the same time period. Specifically, using Pip’s companion Apps ‘Relax and Race’ and ‘The Loom’ for 15 minutes each reduced self-reported stress by 50% compared to 18% in the control group and heart rate by 8% compared to 2% in the control group.
The full research paper is available here:
According to Professor Ian Robertson, Chair of our Scientific Advisory Board and Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, the findings of this study have wide-scale implications.
‘The development of small wireless biofeedback devices, like the Pip, and biofeedback-based Apps gives people a window into their physical response to stress, helping them learn to control it. The findings of this study indicate this can reduce short-term stress.’
He further added that
‘While this study has shown that in the short term Pip was effective at reducing stress, we also know that people who regularly practice reducing stress can learn to reduce their stress response on demand.’
As a company, the science behind Pip is very important to us and we’ve taken an evidence based approach to it’s development. Research institutions and organisations around the world have been incorporating it into research studies and the publication of this study further validates Pip as an effective stress reduction tool.
You can view a video of Prof. Ian Robertson explaining the study here.
