United Health Biofeedback Project

For United Health Group’s research division, we developed a series of VR aplications using Unity as part of a stress resilience study. We took the project from the ideation phase all the way to clinical trials. We aided in the design of the four individual games, developed them, and worked on VR-specific input challenges and performance optimizations.

Additionally, we worked to integrate various biofeedback sensors, tracking a user’s ECG (heart rate via chest electrodes), PPG (heart rate via IR finger clip), EDA (electrodermal activity - skin conductivity), skin temperature, and respiration. These sensors recorded the user’s physical state for analysis later, but they also adjust the gameplay.

The marble game practiced Focused Attention, which is a skill that can be practiced, and can be reduced in individuals suffering from stress related afflictions and PTSD. As our biometric signals indicate rising focus, the difficulty of the marble game adjusts itself dynamically to keep the user at an optimal state of focus. If it’s too easy, the user can become distracted- if it’s too difficult they can become overstimulated or frustrated.

We aided in data analysis by creating jupyter workbooks to process the significant amounts of biometric data associated with these playthroughs.