Osaka Heat Cool
JA

Menstrual pain experience training

Perionoid: VRfor Empathy

Menstrual pain VR experience device

It is hard to understand another person's pain,and just as hard to explain your own.

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The Perionoid unit and electrode pads
The Perionoid unit and electrode pads (from the official introduction video)

About

Have you ever wondered?

How many struggles might the people you work with be hiding? They may be working harder than anyone, worrying where no one can see.

Menstrual pain is hard to understand for men who have never experienced it. Because it differs from person to person, it can be hard to understand even for other women.

At Osaka Heat Cool, we let people experience menstrual pain in a simulated form with Perionoid, our menstrual pain VR experience device. We hope this becomes a chance to understand each other's struggles, even a little.

Illustration of a woman sitting on a chair with her head down and a hand on her abdomen, with a male and a female colleague standing on either side, watching over her with concern

Background

Background

This device was developed at Konan University and Nara Women's University, in research on the possibility and effect of reproducing menstrual pain (video (external site)). The research was motivated by a wish to deepen understanding of menstrual pain among women. Using electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), this VR device lets users experience the lower abdominal pain of menstruation in graded steps.

On a similar principle, Sputniko! (external site) released a video work with a similar concept in 2010, "Menstruation Machine, Takashi's Take" (external site).

Osaka Heat Cool has built on the device developed at Konan University and Nara Women's University. We simplified the user interface and improved it so that it can be used as a wearable device.

For some people, the VR experience with this device involves strong pain. Others feel no pain at all. We hope the experience is a chance to understand that the same experience can feel different from person to person, and to think about "the pain of others."

Research

Related papers

These are papers on the device that Perionoid is based on (research at Nara Women's University and Konan University).

  1. Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics 33(5)2021

    Electrical Muscle Stimulation to Develop and Implement Menstrual Simulator System (external site)

    Chihiro Asada, Kotori Tsutsumi, Yuichi Tamura, Naoya Hara, Wataru Omori, Yuta Otsuka, Katsunari Sato

    Summary

    • Discomfort associated with menstruation is complex, hard to quantify, and not well understood by men and by some women. The authors proposed a way to create pain like menstrual pain artificially using electrical muscle stimulation (EMS).
    • In an experiment comparing actual menstrual pain with EMS-induced pain, they showed that EMS can reproduce the dull pain that recurs periodically. However, in this study the pain was felt in a shallower position.
    • They built a demonstration system based on the proposed method. At an exhibition, they confirmed that the experience helps people put menstrual discomfort into words and deepen their understanding of menstrual symptoms. They state that it may also help reduce negative views of menstruation.

  2. Proceedings of the 27th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST 2021)2021

    A sharing system for the annoyance of menstrual symptoms using electrical muscle stimulation and thermal stimulations (external site)

    Chihiro Asada, Kotori Tsutsumi, Yuichi Tamura, Naoya Hara, Wataru Omori, Yuta Otsuka, Katsunari Sato

    Summary

    • A two-page presentation introducing a system that combines EMS (electrical muscle stimulation) and temperature stimulation to share how hard menstrual symptoms can be (27th ACM VRST, December 2021, Osaka).

The full text of each paper can be read on the linked page (the publisher's page).

Training

About the menstrual pain experience training

We hold sessions that include an experience with Perionoid (the menstrual pain VR experience device) and a seminar on women's health. Participants can learn how differently the experience is felt, between sexes and even within the same sex.

We also run workshops on making workplaces easier to work in for people with chronic illnesses or other conditions, beyond menstrual pain.

Safety and human rights

  1. The training involves experiencing pain from electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) on the abdomen, so we carry it out with careful attention to safety and human rights.
  2. Only people who wish to take part are included, regardless of gender.
  3. We explain the content and precautions beforehand, and run the experience only with the participant's consent (signature).
  4. We decline the experience if there is a health concern.
  5. To avoid excessive stimulation, we start with weak stimulation and raise it gradually, within the range the participant can tolerate.
  6. Participants can stop the stimulation at any time, at their own will.
  7. The device is designed and built, following the standards of commercial EMS devices, not to exceed a current level that is harmless to the human body.
  8. For safe operation, our staff attend each session. When we cannot attend for unavoidable reasons, we brief the session organizer in advance.
  9. To prevent misunderstandings about menstruation, we explain that some people feel little pain in the experience, and that the pain experienced is only a small part of menstrual symptoms.

Program

Training content

  1. Illustration of a female instructor standing next to a blank whiteboard, explaining with materials in hand

    Learn

    We explain the basics of menstrual pain and how the device you will try works.

  2. Illustration of a man sitting on a chair, quietly looking down with both hands on his lower abdomen

    Experience

    You wear Perionoid (the menstrual pain VR experience device) and experience menstrual pain.

  3. Illustration of a man and two women sitting in a circle on chairs, talking calmly

    Share and empathize

    In groups, you discuss what you felt through the VR experience and what you want to change in your own actions.

Voices

What participants said

  • I can't imagine working normally like this. I want to rethink how I assign work from now on.

    Man

  • I think we should encourage taking menstrual leave.

    Man

  • I realized mine is very mild. I never imagined there was pain like this. I thought I could work if I tried hard, but I really couldn't.

    Woman

and more

Record

Track record

and more

Media

Media

TV and video

Web and newspapers

Package

Training package

We accept requests for groups of 10 or more.

*Requests for training for private companies, local governments and educational institutions are handled by Linkage, Inc. (external site), commissioned by Osaka Heat Cool Inc.

Menstrual pain experience training | Linkage, Inc. (in Japanese) (external site)

Contact

Contact