This Anxiety Device Hides in Your Fist So Nobody Sees You Using It - Yanko Design

"Anxiety tools have a strange habit of making things worse. Fidget spinners draw stares across a conference table, breathing apps demand screen time mid-conversation, and wearable buzzers pulse on your wrist where anyone paying attention can spot them. The very act of reaching for help becomes another source of self-consciousness, which is the opposite of what someone in the grip of a social anxiety episode needs."

"LUMA combines tuned haptic vibration with gentle warmth to guide breathing and counter the physical symptoms of acute anxiety. The calming mechanism works in two ways simultaneously. Haptic vibration patterns pace breathing rhythm, guiding the user through inhale-exhale cycles without any visual or audio prompt. Gentle heat addresses the cold-hands response that commonly accompanies anxiety spikes, while also providing a grounding tactile sensation."

"Early explorations cycled through squares, cylinders, pill shapes, and a water-droplet silhouette before arriving at the final biomorphic curve. Each candidate was filtered through two criteria simultaneously: does it feel natural in a clenching grip, and can it disappear inside a trouser pocket? The result is a device that reads less like a gadget and more like a smooth stone you picked up on a beach."

LUMA addresses a critical gap in anxiety management: existing tools like fidget spinners and breathing apps draw unwanted attention, creating additional self-consciousness during social anxiety episodes. This concept device fits entirely within a closed fist, resembling a smooth beach pebble with a matte dark exterior and lighter palm surface. Designed by Vedant Kulkarni, LUMA combines tuned haptic vibration patterns with gentle warmth to guide breathing and counter physical anxiety symptoms. The development process iterated through multiple shapes—squares, cylinders, pills, and water droplets—before settling on a biomorphic curve that feels natural when clenched and fits discreetly in a pocket. Activation requires only a single push-and-hold action with no fumbling or screen interaction. The dual mechanism uses haptic patterns to pace breathing rhythm while gentle heat addresses the cold-hands response accompanying anxiety spikes, providing grounding tactile sensation.

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