The small white device connects to a smartphone over Bluetooth, and then you breathe into it in the normal way. But on screen, rather than a dull metric of how well you're doing or a figure of your peak flow, the data are represented visually. For respiration, you need to follow a dot running along a graph, Flappy Bird-style, while coughing requires you to cough loud enough to shake the leaves from a cartoon tree.

Right now, it's just a demonstration, and the team doesn't — yet — have a clear road to turning this device into a product. But you never know, in a couple of years, we may see Samsung-branded digital spirometers in use to help folks with damaged lungs get back on their feet.

Nicole Lee contributed to this report.

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