Ivar Vinkel - Why do Cats Purr?
It is possible cats use purring to cure themselves, in addition to the well-known displaying of satisfaction. The possible applications of low-frequency sine audio have been researched in Estonia since 1988. This research has come to the creation and serial production of a vibroacoustic therapy device, says Ivar Vinkel, expert of vibroacoustics at the Tallinn University Competence Centre in Health Promotion and Rehabilitation.
It is possible cats use purring to cure themselves, in addition to the well-known displaying of satisfaction. The possible applications of low-frequency sine audio have been researched in Estonia since 1988. This research has come to the creation and serial production of a vibroacoustic therapy device, says Ivar Vinkel, expert of vibroacoustics at the Tallinn University Competence Centre in Health Promotion and Rehabilitation.
When researching the purring of domestic cats, servals, ocelots and pumas, researchers found high intensity at the 25 and 50 Hz frequencies. These are the two frequencies that are most helpful when growing or healing bones.
The Norwegian pedagogue and musical therapist Olav Skille could be considered the pioneer in vibroacoustic therapy. In the 1980s, he put a bean bag on a massage table and set speakers on either side of it so that they were in contact with the bag. When he sat children on that bag, he noticed spasmolytic activity in spastic children, which were in correlation with his earlier finds he dubbed universals of music.
In 1982, Skille described vibroacoustic therapy as follows: it is a method, in which low-frequency sine audio set between 30-120Hz, combined with music, is used for therapeutic purposes. Thus, instead of teaching man to purr, we put them on a special device, which uses in-built audio devices to send vibrations to their bodies, and music or nature sounds to their ears.
Low-frequency sine waves with the correct intensity will resonate with the waves within the organism, thus improving blood circulation and metabolism.
Research shows that vibroacoustic therapy can be used to relieve health issues connected with stress and exhaustion, sleeplessness, anxiety disorders, autism and depression, Parkinson鈥檚 disease, fibromyalgia, pain, muscular tension, breathing disorders, and high blood pressure.
In 1988, Olav Skille and Professor Saima Tamm started research on the application of vibroacoustic therapy at the Tallinn Pedagogical University health laboratories. In 2014, the TU Competence Centre in Health Promotion and Rehabilitation began designing a new vibroacoustic therapy device. In 2015, this device, shaped like a lounge chair, passed a series of tests and found recognition at the international competition by the Industrial Designers Society of America. Since 2016, this bed is produced by SMARTdo O脺.
Ivar Vinkel will introduce this device at the on 14 May between 21:00-23:00 at the Astra Building Forum.