Breathing Doll

Abstract

A breathing doll is disclosed herein. The breathing doll includes a doll, an actuator, a sound output unit and, in some embodiments, a vibration output unit. The breathing doll uses visual cues, sound, vibration and touch to inform, teach and model conscious diaphragmatic breathing to children. As such, the breathing doll is used for teaching healthy breathing to children that continues into adulthood, leading to increased health, independence, confidence, relaxation, self-regulation, self-soothing and decreasing stress and anxiety.

1 . A breathing doll comprising:
 a doll including a head having a mouth and a nose, and a body including an abdomen;   an actuator disposed in the doll and configured to move the abdomen between an exhale position and an inhale position; and   a sound output unit disposed in the doll and configured to output breathing sounds corresponding to the exhale position and the inhale position.   
     
     
         2 . The breathing doll of  claim 1 , wherein the doll further include a pair of eyes, a pair of legs, a pair of feet, a pair of arms and a pair of hands. 
     
     
         3 . The breathing doll of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator is disposed in the abdomen of the doll. 
     
     
         4 . The breathing doll of  claim 1 , wherein in the inhale position, the sound output unit outputs an inhale breath sound, and wherein in the exhale position, the sound output unit outputs an exhale breath sound. 
     
     
         5 . The breathing doll of  claim 4 , wherein the inhale breath sound is output through the nose of the doll. 
     
     
         6 . The breathing doll of  claim 4 , wherein the exhale breath sound is output through at least one of the nose and the mouth of the doll. 
     
     
         7 . The breathing doll of  claim 1 , further comprising a vibration output unit disposed in the doll and configured to output vibrations corresponding to the exhale position and the inhale position. 
     
     
         8 . The breathing doll of  claim 1 , wherein the sound output unit is further configured to output pre-recorded messages. 
     
     
         9 . The breathing doll of  claim 8 , wherein the pre-recorded messages include at least one of information, prompts and feedback. 
     
     
         10 . The breathing doll of  claim 1 , further comprising a controller disposed in the doll and in communication with the actuator, the sound output unit and the vibration output unit, the controller including at least one processor and a memory, the memory storing audio files of the inhale breath sound and the exhale breath sound and the pre-recorded messages. 
     
     
         11 . A breathing doll comprising:
 a doll including a head having a mouth, a nose and a pair of eyes, and a body including an abdomen, a pair of legs, a pair of feet, a pair of arms and a pair of hands;   an actuator disposed in the abdomen of the doll and configured to move the abdomen between an exhale position and an inhale position;   a sound output unit disposed in the doll and configured to output an inhale breath sound through the nose of the doll during the inhale position of the abdomen, and further configured to output an exhale breath sound through at least one of the nose and the mouth of the doll during the exhale position of the abdomen; and   a vibration output unit disposed in the doll and configured to output an inhale vibration during the inhale position of the abdomen, and further configured to output an exhale vibration during the exhale position of the abdomen.   
     
     
         12 . The breathing doll of  claim 11 , wherein the sound output unit is further configured to output pre-recorded messages. 
     
     
         13 . The breathing doll of  claim 12 , wherein the pre-recorded messages include at least one of information, prompts and feedback. 
     
     
         14 . The breathing doll of  claim 11 , further comprising a controller disposed in the doll and in communication with the actuator, the sound output unit and the vibration output unit, the controller including at least one processor and a memory, the memory storing audio files of the inhale breath sound and the exhale breath sound and the pre-recorded messages. 
     
     
         15 . A method of teaching deep breathing, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a breathing doll, the breathing doll including a doll having a head and an abdomen, an actuator disposed in the doll and a sound output unit disposed in the doll;   simultaneously moving, by the actuator, the abdomen of the doll into an inhale position and outputting, by the sound output unit, an inhale breathing sound corresponding to the inhale position; and   simultaneously moving, by the actuator, the abdomen of the doll into an exhale position and outputting, by the sound output unit, an exhale breathing sound corresponding to the exhale position.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the inhale breath sound is output through a nose of the doll. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the exhale breath sound is output through at least one of the nose and a mouth of the doll. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the breathing doll further comprises a vibration output unit, and wherein the moving steps include:
 simultaneously moving, by the actuator, the abdomen of the doll into the inhale position, and outputting, by the sound output unit and the vibration output unit, an inhale breathing sound and an inhale vibration, respectively, corresponding to the inhale position; and   simultaneously moving, by the actuator, the abdomen of the doll into the exhale position, and outputting, by the sound output unit and the vibration output unit, an exhale breathing sound and an exhale vibration, respectively, corresponding to the exhale position.   
     
     
         19 . The method  claim 15 , further comprising the step of outputting, by the sound output unit, at least one pre-recorded message. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one pre-recorded message includes at least one of information, prompts and feedback.