We are pleased to share that doctoral researcher and PhD candidate Yanick Lukic has successfully defended his PhD thesis.

The thesis, “Breathe to Play – Design and Evaluation of a Microphone-Based Breathing Detection Algorithm and Gameful Breathing Training App” focuses on the added value that gamification and biofeedback can bring to a breathing training. During his PhD, Yanick designed and evaluated a breathing training app based on sensing data from smartphone microphones. His PhD defense covered a range of technical aspects related to the app he created and the data he collected and evaluated. During Yanick’s PhD Defense, there was an interesting discussion on how the user engagement scores for Breeze compare to traditional breathing trainings. Additionally, this type of app opens up new target populations and usages. Could an app like Breeze help reach new patient populations who could benefit from regular breathing exercises?

Details on the Breeze project can be found at Breeze A Gameful Biofeedback Breathing Training for Mental and Physical Wellbeing. There are many potential future projects connected to the work of Yanick Lukic and his predecessor Iris Shih who built the first prototype of Breeze. Currently, the BEDDA Project by Gisbert Teepe is employing the Breeze App to support adults with symptoms of subclinical Depression.

Yanick was supervised by Prof. Dr. Elgar Fleisch & Prof. Dr. Tobias Kowatsch (pictured with convenor Prof. Dr. Florian von Wangenheim and Yanick below). Congratulations to Yanick on passing his doctoral studies! We would like to wish Yanick all the best for continuing his applied research career as a Research Fellow at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)!