An Innovator At Heart and A Visionary in Actions
Dr Heinrich Zimmermann is truly a one-of-a-kind person when it comes to innovation in the field of healthcare, having paved the way for new approaches and practices. In 2009, he invented a system for the sonification of physiological rhythms and received a European patent for it. For fifteen years, he has worked as a coaching psychologist in the university and hospital environment to promote health in the workplace. Based on his profound invention, he has developed a new kind of biofeedback systems that support the training and improvement of human stress regulation. He was honoured with the Excellence in Healthcare Award at the Health 2.0 Conference in Dubai in 2024 for his contributions to healthcare.
His business portfolio includes research, development, coaching, consulting and training focusing on stress regulation. Inspired by the natural rhythms of life – such as the alternation between tension and relaxation – he develops innovative biofeedback systems. He says, “These systems measure brain, heart, lungs and abdomen activities and transform the measurements into targeted light and sound effects. Combined with breathing techniques, they promote hypnagogic trance states which allow for improving stress management. I aim to help people find a sustainable balance between body, mind and social relationships in a complex world in which humans and machines are interconnected.”
All businesses have their fair share of hurdles, and navigating the same Heinrich also does in his endeavour. The most major one is that his business does not share common expectations in healthcare and education. Instead of treating illness, he strives to promote health, and instead of just transferring health knowledge, he wants to establish habits that strengthen well-being. He feels it takes luck for the right people to come together to learn from each other. He mentions, “Learning and growth often require hard work, which should not be undertaken alone but in collaboration with others”
Heinrich’s vision and passion are in sync and are fuelled by the extraordinary possibilities of his hypnagogic biofeedback systems. Even with the first prototypes, he could see how they promote creative expression, regulate stress and improve well-being. He was thrilled when people experienced an effortless flow of breathing, voice and movement through his carefully curated systems. He recalls that when rhythms and melodies flow back and forth between people and machines, stunning effects are created in real-time with light and sound. These moments when people are touched and inspired motivates him to keep researching and developing.
His source of inspiration stems from innovative approaches from the health, education and leisure sectors that deal with stress management. However, he and his team of experts are fascinated by the possibility of integrating unconscious resources and modern technologies to a greater extent. He desires to develop hypnagogic biofeedback systems that use visual and auditory representations of processes in the brain, heart, lungs and abdomen to promote (partly subliminal) perception of these processes. In this way, he aims to help people access new states of consciousness and improve their stress regulation in the long term.
For Heinrich, leadership means taking responsibility for consolidating values and goals and coordinating their implementation within a community. He reiterates, “Each community should ensure that it has leaders who best represent the interests of the community and its members. The ratio between the number of leaders and followers should be balanced. Different leaders are needed for different areas of life and situations. Leaders should limit their claim to leadership to the content and time they are entitled to.”
Heinrich explains how interdisciplinary expertise, a critical mind, and iron perseverance have helped him design, build, evaluate, and continuously develop prototypes of his hypnagogic biofeedback systems. He was able to prove their effectiveness with numerous measurements. However, he didn’t bother disseminating his ideas for a long time and only combined them with other ideas later. He remarks, “There should be a global exchange of expertise on problems that affect everyone.”
In conclusion, Heinrich shares his insights with the readers, stating, “Growth and development begin when we step out of our comfort zones. However, true growth is achieved through balance: the interplay between effort and relaxation. Peak performance is rooted in harmony, not only within ourselves but also in our interactions with others. Our guiding principle should be to trust our values, harness both our conscious and unconscious resources, and prioritize cooperation over confrontation.”