Ambient Lamp for Mindful Breathing

In today’s fast-paced, screen-filled world, we often forget to pause and breathe. Inspired by Calm Technology principles, this project presents a non-intrusive, screen-free ambient lamp that uses motion detection, LED lighting, and soft audio cues to guide users through calming breathing exercises like the 4-7-8 technique. By gently fading light and soothing ocean sounds, this lamp creates a peaceful environment to help reduce anxiety and improve mindfulness by quietly operating in the background without demanding attention.

1. Arduino Uno
2. 5x LED lights
3. PIR Motion Sensor
4. Switch
5. Speaker
6. Breadboard and jumper wires
7. 3D Printed Lamp Shade (Voronoi Model from Thingiverse)
8. USB Cable and Computer
9. Power Source

Before building, it’s important to understand the design philosophy behind Calm Technology. This approach emphasizes tech that sits quietly in the periphery of our attention and only surfaces when necessary. It doesn’t demand constant interaction or create distraction. With this in mind, the lamp is designed to turn on gently with movement, guide the user through a breathing exercise, and then fade back into stillness. Light and sound are the only outputs, designed to be subtle and relaxing. This principle informed all our design decisions, from sensor choice to sound type and light behavior.

I started by setting up my circuit on a breadboard. I connected the PIR motion sensor on the Arduino and set up five LEDs on pins. I also added an on/off switch, and connected the speaker too. Then, I added the SD card module using the SPI. Once everything was connected, I tested the circuit to make sure the LEDs could fade in and out, and the speaker could play audio.

After wiring everything, I uploaded my code using the Arduino IDE. I used the TMRpcm library to play sound from the SD card. My .wav file was saved as track1.wav, and it needed to be in mono 8-bit format (not stereo). The code turns on the light and sound when motion is detected and waits until the motion stops before resetting. I made sure the LEDs fade smoothly to match the rhythm of the 4-7-8 breathing pattern.

Next, I 3D-printed a lampshade using a Voronoi-style design from Thingiverse. I resized it to fit all my components. I originally wanted to use translucent filament, but only clear filament was available. Luckily, it worked great! The layers from printing gave the lamp a soft glow without needing to sand anything. I mounted the PIR sensor near the top, placed the speaker where sound could escape, and tucked everything else inside. The switch went on the bottom for easy access. I also had to cut a small hole at the back to ensure that the wire from the Arduino had a space to leave from the bottom to reach the power source.

Once everything was inside the lamp, I tested it. When I flipped the switch on, the lamp waited for someone to walk by. As soon as motion was detected, the LEDs started fading in and out slowly, and the ocean sound played gently. It was really peaceful. When the person left or stayed still, the system turned off and waited again. I adjusted the LED speed and sound volume in the code until it felt just right.

There were a few challenges along the way. At first, I only used one LED, but it wasn’t bright enough, so I added more. That made fitting everything inside harder. I also had trouble with the speaker volume, the small speaker I used first was too quiet. I switched to a bigger one, but because of the plastic material, the sound still came out soft. I also had to double-check that my audio file was the right format for Arduino to play it properly.

In the future, I’d love to add more features. I could include a light sensor to adjust brightness automatically, or even different breathing patterns that you can switch between. I’m also interested in using a pulse sensor so the lamp can respond to someone’s heart rate. Making it portable with a battery would be cool too, and maybe letting people upload different sounds and lights to fit their mood.