Verification of sleep-inducing effect by excitation apparatus simulating mother´s embrace and rocking motion

Recently, the number of people who suffer from a high level of stress has increased. Too much stress may cause various physical and/or mental disorders. Moreover, sleep disorders are increasing in modern society. The aim of our project is to develop a relaxation machine for reducing stress and inducing sleep by using a rocking vibration simulating a mother´s embrace and rocking motion of her baby. First, we analyzed a mother´s embrace and rocking motion using a 3D motion capture system, and we evaluated the sleep-inducing effect on adults by using an excitation apparatus simulating the mother´s motions.We found from the experimental analysis that there are two types of motions, both consisting of linear motion and rotational motion. The effectiveness of the rocking motion for inducing sleep was verified from brain signal analysis.