The Haptic PTSD Project is an innovative Android application designed to provide immediate, non-invasive support for individuals managing PTSD and sleep-related distress. By combining tactile grounding techniques with advanced on-device sensing, the app offers a digital "anchor" during moments of anxiety or restlessness.
The application aims to provide physiological regulation through:
- Active Heartbeat Mode: Immediate grounding triggered by either a physical squeeze or a sharp "wrist snap" movement.
- Bilateral Beat Player: Immersive, synchronized haptics that follow the rhythm of your own audio tracks, using multiple analysis profiles (Bass, Guitar, Amplitude).
- Background Operation: Designed to work while the app is out of focus or the screen is off, providing continuous support as you drift off to sleep.
- Privacy-Centric Monitoring: Continuous sensing of triggers using local, private analysis that never sends data to the cloud.
A primary therapeutic feature where the user activates a comforting, rhythmic "heartbeat" vibration by squeezing their phone or using a sharp wrist movement. This mimics the calming effect of human touch or pulse-syncing, helping to break cycles of panic or distress even when lying in bed.
Analyze any audio file from your library to generate a custom haptic profile. The app uses advanced signal processing to "feel" the music, providing synchronized tactile feedback that matches the intensity and duration of detected transients. Supports automatic caching for instant re-play.
The app automatically prepares your therapeutic environment by choosing the best available audio track. It prioritizes previously analyzed files (choosing the shortest ones for quick sessions) and remembers your last played track, ensuring support is always one tap away.
Real-time visual feedback of the haptic engine's output, available both as a dedicated card in the app and as part of a persistent notification. This provides clear confirmation of when the app is generating vibrations, featuring animations for both phone and external motor motors.
Full media playback controls are integrated directly into the persistent notification. This allows you to play, pause, stop, and skip forward or backward by 5 or 30 seconds without needing to open the app. The controls are synchronized with the in-app player.
Specialized, rhythmic haptic sessions designed to assist in falling asleep and maintaining sleep quality. The app is evolving to detect signs of tremors or night terrors and respond with gentle tactile interventions.
The app includes precision calibration tools for both acoustic pressure detection and motion sensitivity. All preferences—intensity, BPM, lead-in/out timing, and detection thresholds—are automatically saved.
Built for the most sensitive contexts, all detection and analysis happen locally on the device. No audio or sensor data is recorded permanently or sent to external servers, ensuring total user confidentiality.
- UI: Jetpack Compose (Material 3)
- Logic: Kotlin / Coroutines / ViewModels
- Sensing: Acoustic Pressure Detection (sonar-based) & Linear Acceleration (gravity-independent motion)
- Background: Android Foreground Service with WakeLock
- Signal Processing: JTransforms (FFT) / Adaptive Transient Detection
- Persistence: JSON-based haptic profiles
- Android 11 (API 30) or higher.
- Physical device required for haptic and sensor functionality.
- Bilateral Stimulation: Support for dual-device connectivity via Bluetooth to provide alternating pulses on each arm.
- Picture-in-Picture (PiP) Visualizer: Expanding the visualizer to a floating window for continuous feedback while using other apps.