New hug vest offers therapy

A hug, an action so simple yet so comforting. People say a hug is not just an action to express feelings but an excellent way to make tension fade away. But for people with autism – human touch is somewhat unbearable.

This is why “BioHug technologies” came up with a new vest that can give the same comforting action to people who suffer from autism, ADHD and anxiety.

Raphael Rembrandt, engineer and a father to a child with autism is the brain behind the hugging vest idea. the vest is a byproduct of one other research of Rembrandt about the autism mechanism and his vision to make a device that can make them more relaxed without the need to take medication.

Research and development of the product started at 2007 with the help and support of Doctor Eynat Gal from Haifa university in Israel, The national foundation to help kids with autism. After five years of experiments the product finally hit the market in mid 2012.

Andrew Spillman, BioHug CEO said, “Every kind of psychological relaxation affects the blood pressure, breathing and general feeling.” The vast press pressure points in the back and shoulders area that let the user reach a certain point of relaxation.

The vest works with a light air pressure device, a single computer board and small valves that feed it with air bubbles under the cotton layout. unlike deep pressure devices that provide continuous pressure, the location and duration of the pressure change all the time so the effect last for longer. Spillman explains that the problem with continuous pressure is that the body stops reacting the feeling after a certain duration of time.

The vest, unlike other devices that needs manual air pumps, provide this function automatically with a battery that holds up to 4 hours.