Resonate with Fetus

“Resonate with Fetus” is an experience-based content about the fetus and pregnancy that promotes a positive understanding of pregnancy and childbirth.
This work consists of a fetal virtual reality (VR) system and a haptic communication system.

In a fetal VR system, the state of the fetus is represented with artistic video and sound.
A user is swaddled in an elastic cloth and experiences VR content that imagines the inside of the womb.
By using audio middleware to change the sound depending on the state during the experience, the narrow range in which the fetus can move within the womb is represented.

A haptic communication system reproduces the interaction between the mother and the fetus, such as the mother stroking the belly and the baby kicking, using vibration.
In an experiment of fetal movement in which women with pregnant experience participated, all of them said that the tactile sensation of the device “resembled” the movements of a fetus in the late 6-7 months of pregnancy.
We also aim to have the vibrators respond to the interactive sounds of a fetal VR system so that the user can be presented with vibrations that match the state in the womb.
Introducing these interactive changes in both sound and haptics can create a more immersive experience of the fetus and pregnant woman.
We hope that this work will be adopted in the future as teaching material for medical and maternity classes, and give an opportunity to deepen mutual understanding among people who will experience pregnancy and childbirth and their families.
We are happy if this work will give a positive impression of pregnancy and childbirth, and help to create a society that is tolerant of pregnant women and their fetuses.