TEXTILES.ORG
During Milan Design Week 2026, Tokyo-based creative agency Konel Inc. released a translucent, wearable bag that converts the user’s heartbeats into slow pulses to help them be aware of their current state and calm them down. Named “Pulse Pack,” the self-calming product measures the heartbeat in real time and responds to the accessory with a physical pulse of its own, timed at exactly half the frequency of what it detects.
The idea behind it draws from a phenomenon in physiology and psychology that when the body is under stress, the heart rate rises. When a person is calm, it slows. What is less commonly known is that external rhythmic stimuli—a slow drumbeat, a rocking motion or a repeated vibration—can pull the body’s own rhythm toward them through a process called entrainment. Here, the nervous system synchronizes to a steady external beat when that beat is slower and more regular than the body’s current state.
Konel has built the Pulse Pack around that mechanism, providing a slower rhythm, which is more steady than the one already running inside the person wearing it. Over time, the body to follow, allowing the user to calm down and relieve their stress.
The haptic pulse (the physical vibration) generated is felt against the spine and the shoulder blades, which are areas of the body that are generally less consciously monitored than the hands or face. The company believes that contact with the back tends to be less intrusive and more grounding than stimulation at the fingertips or wrist, which is where most current wearable devices put their haptic feedback.
The sensor that reads the heartbeat also sits inside the bag’s structure, in contact with the wearer’s back so that there’s no need for a separate device. The system runs passively, meaning it reads, calculates and responds without asking the person to do anything other than put the bag on.