Live breath detection and biofeedback from a phone microphone
Hi everyone, I am Felix, a famliy doctor from ZH, Switzerland. A couple of month ago I started this little project called shii • haa, a breathing app that uses the phone`s microphone for live biofeedbackMy prior work in emergency medicine and intensive care was closesly linked to breathing, mostly in critical situations... and let me to reevaluate my own way of breathing. over time one question popped into my mind: can medical knowledge and biofeedback make an app actually promote self-awareness instead of attaching your goals to the award system of the app.it combines signal processing, a breathing state machine and ML. The state machine follows inhale, exhale and transitions in the mic signal. A quality layer rejects noisy or ambiguous windows before signals are used for feedback. All processing is done on-device, no speech or raw audio is uploaded.What I'm trying to avoid is turning breathing into another score or game. The app gives feedback on rhythm, depth and regularity, but the point is more "notice what you are doing" than "perform well".I'd be interested in feedback, especially from people who have worked on signal processing, health UX, or Android/iOS audio issues.
FL score
out of 100
Verdict
high confidence
Competition
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Trend
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An app that uses phone microphones to provide live breathing biofeedback focused on self-awareness rather than gamification.
The pain
The gap
Build angle
Strengths
- Founder has relevant medical expertise in emergency and intensive care medicine.
- On-device processing respects user privacy and reduces latency.
- Focus on self-awareness over gamification addresses a niche unmet by many breathing apps.
- Combination of signal processing, state machine, and ML shows technical depth.
Risks
- Signal quality and noise rejection on diverse phone microphones may limit reliability.
- User engagement might be low without gamification or clear incentives.
- Market for breathing apps is crowded; differentiation depends on user experience and perceived value.
- Unclear if the app can demonstrate measurable health benefits or user retention.
Fly Labs Method
Is the pain real, is there a gap, is it the right time, can one person build it.
Value Equation
Dream outcome and how likely it feels, against the time and effort it costs.
One-Person Business
Curiosity pull, identity fit, and a path from free value to paid for a solo creator.
Viral Frameworks
Hook strength, shareability, and how cheaply it can be tested.
Builder Lens
Evidence the problem exists, timing, defensibility, and a model that fits on a napkin.
Five lenses, one composite. How scoring works
The angle
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