"But, as the expression goes, hindsight is perfect," Krossner, a former Duluth resident of 42 years, wrote in an email.
His invention is a translucent cylinder about the size of a milk bottle. A small number of users have reported better sleep and improved reactions to stressful events after using it – a needed relief during current stressful times.
A microprocessor located inside the cylinder emits a series of unpredictable colorful lights that relieve stress. If you were to watch the cylinder once a day for 80 years, you would never see a pattern repeat itself, Krossner said.
The device, unlike many other stress relieving objects or practices, requires no consumption, exercise or major investment, he said. Likely retailing around $80, there is "nothing to buy beyond the device itself and two flashlight batteries every six months or so," Krossner said.
William Krossner invented a colorful light-therapy device designed to reduce stress. (Submitted photo)
The most effective way to use the device is before bed, three to four times a week. It should be placed around 15-20 feet away at eye level in a dark room. After turning it on, the user can lie in bed and will likely receive a restful and sustained night of sleep, he said.
Much like playing the piano or baseball, repetitive use – or practice – "is key" to successfully use the device, Krossner said.
Creating an electronic device was a natural choice for him, because he's dabbled in electronics since he was a teenager and received a college degree in engineering, he said.
Although now an Iowa resident, Krossner has deep roots in Duluth. He taught psychology at the University of Minnesota Duluth, to both medical and psychology students. Then, he began conducting market research and political polling and started in-hospital psychology work at St. Luke’s hospital. At St. Luke's, he and his wife Rhonda Krossner made up the first psychology department.
During this all, he also helped former Mayor Ben Boo with an opinion survey and later founded PsyMinn.
His interest in biofeedback – a process that trains a person to regulate a non-voluntary function – was honed during his time at St. Luke's. He worked with diagnosing and treating post-operative patients who struggled with pain problems. Here, he saw rapid advances in technology, including the first biofeedback machine that trained people to minimize physical manifestations of stress.
His vast psychology experience set him on course to create the light machine, which he said he's worked on for around 10 years.
Although initial data on device effectiveness is limited, he said he has plans to conduct an expanded, large-scale study of the device. Using his experience with statistics and publishing scientific journal articles, he hopes to eventually collect a large amount of physical and non-verbal data to use in publishing a peer-reviewed journal article about the device's effect.
He's also pursuing two patents for the device, ensuring the device could be produced in a factory and sold to the broader public.
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Former Duluth professor seeking patents for colorful, stress-relieving device - Duluth News Tribune
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