When I was a kid growing up and wanted someplace to hide out in, we used to call it a 'girl-hating club' that most of us boys had to have, we had to play in a big cardboard box that came with the new refrigerator, or huddle in the dirt under the back porch.  If I acted out and became a pest to my mom I was sent to my room to stay until dinner or breakfast, whatever meal was next.  

If I had been given an opportunity to have a place like the Somatron Vibroacoustic i-Sensory Pod to play in, or a place to get away from everyone and everything and relax my childhood energy and anxiety, the i-Sensory Pod would have been sweet.  Or even as I became an adult working in the mental health field and had been able to use the i-Sensory Pod for both children and adult patients, it also would have been very helpful.

Talking about patients, interestingly, the first application of vibration techniques for the improvement of human health was developed in ancient Greece.  A saw covered in cotton was used as a tool to transmit vibrations to the part of the body that was not functioning properly.  More recently, in the late 19th century, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg was using vibration chairs, platforms and bars at his Battle Creek, Michigan sanitarium as part of a "wellness" strategy for his patients.

Throughout the years, vibroacoustic technology has become much better, to the point where doctors don't have to use cotton-covered saws anymore.  Since 1985, the Somatron corporation has become the leader in the Vibroacoustic Therapy field and the standard for the industry, with the patented Somatron products being involved extensively in programs conducted by hospitals, universities, private and government facilities, including the U.S. Air Force, the Bethesda Naval Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health.

Vibroacoustic Therapy occurs when music is converted to tactile sensations which permeate a person's whole body with stimulating and soothing sound vibrations.  Somatron's Patented Somatron Second Diaphragm differs from other vibroacoustic products as they are not just simple pulses that repeat at regular intervals.  Stimulation is one of the most common and successful treatment approaches for disabilities, and special needs schools are finding Somatron soft furniture to be an effective calming and relaxing "chill-out" tool.  Children suffering tension, anxiety and depression open up more and talk more freely when using Somatron therapy.

      

The 6-feet deep, by 8-feet wide and 4-feet high easy to set up pod comes with two patented Somatron Transpeakers built within the wall-to-wall Vibrotactile Play Floor. The video camera allows the kids to watch their behavior on the 26 inch flat screen TV or use the stereo radio, CD player or the DVD player to watch the Somatron video of the space shuttle launch.

This is a great place for anxious students to spend some 'time-out' during the school day and also a great place for the stressed out teacher to spend some 'time-out' after the school day.  Relaxation and stimulation seem to be opposites, but when it comes to health, like the Yin and Yang, both are needed for a complete healthy environment.

I do admit that playing in the refrigerator box when I was a kid was a lot of fun but it was a short term living arrangement, especially after the rain made the cardboard soggy and of no use anymore,  whereas the Somatron® Vibroacoustic i-Sensory Pod can be used for many years and for many children in the future.  The only vibration the refrigerator box had was when my friend and co-club founder's sister and her friends would come and attack our cardboard fort.  It was stimulating in a fight-or-flight moment, but it wasn't very relaxing and I think I would have liked the vibroacoustic i-Sensory Pod MUCH better.  And who knows, maybe if we had an i-Sensory Pod back then, the 'girl-hating club' might have allowed my friend's sister to join...well, actually, no, probably not.

To see more Somatron Vibroacoustic products, vibrate your way over to the Vibroacoustic Therapy Products page.

Bill Stock
Library Editor for Rehabmart
and
Hulet Smith, OT
Rehabmart Team Leader & CEO