This vest could help people cope with anxiety and stress by simulating a hug

This is the Bubsy Vest.

It could help people cope with anxiety and stress.

It provides comfort by creating controlled pressure.

The vest simulates a hug.

Taeyoung Chang: I'm Taeyoung Chang and I'm an industrial design student at Pratt Institute. And I'm here to show you my Bubsy Vest. The project was to design a functional clothing. And I wanted to find an environment where I can design this clothing to live in. And the environment that I picked was a stressful environment. Everybody faces it. Whether you're an adolescent, adult, or into later years of your life, stress is something everybody kind of lives with nowadays. And so I figured it was important to help people maintain like a healthy mental health as well as physical health

The vest is only a prototype, but it's being tested on real-life subjects.

Here's how the vest provides comfort.

You put it on. And zip it up.

Bubsy is the inflatable friend that the wearer hugs.

By inflating Bubsy, you also inflate pockets full of air around the vest.

This creates additional comforting pressure around the body.

Finally, give Bubsy a hug!

When under stress, negative hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol increase. Hugging releases happy hormones such as serotonin and oxytocin. The Bubsy Vest counterbalances the negative hormones with positive hormones.

Taeyoung Chang: With the latest prototype I've been able to test it on a lot of different people at different age groups. And I've been hearing really good feedback saying, 'It does feel like a hug, it does feel like the vest is hugging me back and it does calm me down.' So I was really happy to hear that and I think I can take that feedback moving forward with my future prototypes and I really think this vest could be a success.