concept design: miss you pillow

human interaction

This design mockup of the miss you pillow was used to explore the physical qualities of the pillow and the best way to achieve them. 

Through making this model, I was happy with the weight and texture aspect of them as it resembles in part the human form and textures. The long "arm" sections of the pillow were too long for it to be comfortable to wrap around an average female body. I think the whole pillow was actually too thin also. I would have been better to have a wider and fuller pillow. The finger grips are a little small but they do provide the pressure between the fingers to imitate holding hands. 

development

 

colour changing textiles

The fibres in this video are great for application in the "miss you" pillow. It is important that the fibres are integrated and small so that the feel of the pillow is still desirable.  

Hi Tech Textiles

Smart Fabrics- The Hi Tech Textile

From protecting body from harsh temperature to start thinking for the wearer, clothes have come a long way! This is the next generation of textile- the smart fabrics- the electronic wearables! The competition is on! The scientists are on their toes to find out new fabrics that can not only keep the wearer warm or cool but also dry, moisturized, free from bacteria, allergy, odor and stains and at the same time monitor the heart rate, blood count and oxygen! Fabrics are really going to give a tough competition to human intelligence!

Temperature Sensitive Fabrics

Not only protecting human body against heat and cold, the fabrics are now accepting the role of regulating body temperature. These heat modifying textiles are mostly used to make outdoor garments such as hats, beanies, windbreakers and jackets. There are many techniques for making such clothes, one of which is- treating the fabric with paraffins. As the body gets hot, the paraffins become more liquid to let the heat pass out and as the body gets cold, it solidifies so that it keeps back the heat with the wearer. Some other fabrics that are wired up, conduct electricity for monitoring body temperature. At the same time, the inbuilt mp3 player can entertain the wearer! The amazing part is that, when made from conductive yarn, they are machine washable, wear and feel like any conventional clothing. They are the first generation smart fabrics, and guess what, the second generation smart fabrics will be treated with Inherently Conductive Polymers (ICP) allowing the fabric to transmit energy to heat and cool the body without any electrical wiring!

Smart Fabrics: The New Black

ScienceDaily (Nov. 4, 2008) — Smart fabrics and intelligent textiles – material that incorporates cunning molecules or clever electronics – is thriving and European research efforts are tackling some of the sector’s toughest challenges.

Clothes that monitor your heart, measure the chemical composition of your body fluids or keep track of you and your local environment promise to revolutionise healthcare and emergency response, but they present tough research challenges, too.

Smart textiles must be comfortable, their technology must be unobtrusive, they must withstand a difficult and variable environment and, particularly for medical and emergency applications, they must be absolutely reliable.

These are all tough challenges, but they must be overcome to realise the considerable benefits and lucrative market potential of smart textiles and intelligent fabrics (SFIT). The market is thought to be worth over €300m and current growth rates are about 20% a year.

smart clothing

The technology talked about in this video will be great for the "miss you" pillow for measuring heart beats but also replicating the bodily aspects of the other person using the pillow and transmitting the information. There may also be a possibility of detecting moods and health conditions. 

heat sensitive fabrics

smart fabrics

hand ergonomics

3rd digit finger 99th percentile male: 0.98 in = 2.5 cm 

2nd digit finger 99th percentile male: 0.96 in = 2.4 cm

hand grip width 99th percentile male: 3.9 in = 9.9 cm

hand thickness at knuckles 99th percentile male: 1.5 in = 3.8 cm

hug me pillow

heat reactive fabric

Stone Island have recently released a heat reactive jacket. See article below sourced from: http://stylishchap.com/stone-island-heat-reactive-jacket/

Stone Island first began researching on a thermo-sensitive coating for fabrics: reacting to cold (Ice Jacket) and to heat (Heat Reactive) between 1988 and 1990, together with a Japanese company.

These coatings contain micro-encapsulated agents, whose molecules happen to rotate according to temperature variation. This modifies the light flow, affecting the colour of the fabric. Highly technical innovation for a clothing brand but quite the norm if that company happens to be Stone Island.

This research has leads us to a Stylish Pick for a lightweight Spring Summer Jacket that is sure to raise a few eyebrows when the temperature rises.

The Stone Island Heat Reactive Jacket in Dark Green changes to a Bright Green according to temperature changes.

The fabric of the heat reactive jacket is treated with a thermo-sensitive coating that changes colour at high temperatures. Beginning at 27 degrees the molecules within the micro- capsules of the external strata undergo a rotation modifying the light course. The colour of the garment gradually begins to morph from the dark colour of the surface coating to a much lighter and brighter surface colour. When the garment returns to a normal temperature it recovers to its original dark coating colour. Green heat reactive jacket with fixed hood, made with a unique thermo-sensitive fabric. This iconic jacket features:

• Zip fastening
• Adjustable hood
• Adjustable press stud fastening cuffs
• Internal toggle for fit adjustment
• Two angled pockets with zip fastening
• Stone Island black and white removable arm badge – can be worn either internally or externally

Fabric Composition: Outer: 100% Cotton, Coating: 100% Polyurethane.

couples

concept selection

We had peer assessments and the majority of the class thought that I should progress with option 2 which was the Missing You pillow. To go forward, I will do more research on couples and the available technologies and materials that will be the most appropriate for the product. 

what are you up to? week four

The third concept bomb task was called What are you up to? 

Brief

Enable people to ‘have a sense’ of what his/her friend is doing. The user-product interaction is primarily centred on the ‘feel’ of the input-output. 

Requirements

The design object must: 

be a tangible interactive device with an input and output means for ‘sensing and transmitting’ 

focus on the area of social awareness; 

not exclude people with different physical abilities 

Communicate

A perspective (hero image) of design intent.

A storyboard: tell us about your design by using a design narrative. Communicate your (amazing, funny, romantic, crazy, etc...) story with visual aids (storyboards) to convey object, behaviour and scenario aspects (min 6 frames – max 12 frames) 

missing you: week four

The second concept bomb this week was called Missing You: connecting couples.

Brief

Design a tangible interaction that appeals to the emotional aspect of the user-product interaction 

Requirements

The ‘designed object’ must: 
be a tangible interactive device with an input and output means for ‘sensing and transmitting’ 

focus on the area of social/emotional awareness; 

not exclude people with different physical abilities 

Communicate

A perspective (hero image) of design intent.

Tell us about your design by using a design narrative. Communicate your (amazing, funny, romantic, crazy, etc...) story with visual aids (storyboards) to convey object, behaviour and scenario aspects (min 6 frames – max 12 frames) 

marco polo: week four

The first concept bomb this week was called Marco Polo: shortening geographical distances between close friends.


Brief
Consider ‘connecting’ people from the following user groups (same group of between different groups): 

Generation X people born in the 1965 - 1976 

Generation Me people born in 1970 - 1990 

Generation Y people born between 1980 - 1995 

Requirements

The ‘designed object’ must: 

focus on the area of social awareness; 

not exclude people with different physical abilities 

Communicate

A perspective (hero image) of design intent. 

A storyboard: tell us about your design by using a design narrative. Communicate your (amazing, funny, romantic, crazy, etc...) story with visual aids (storyboards) to convey object, behaviour and scenario aspects (min 6 frames – max 12 frames) 

I didn't really have any ideas for the specific ideas for those particular generations and therefore ended up with an idea for grandparents to interact with infant grandchildren from a distance. 

distant interactions

hacking task: week three

This week the class headed to the workshop for some fun dismantling some electronic products and creating new models from the pieces. We were told to bring a electronic object and some random materials and see what we came up with. 

Our table had a collection of items including a remote control car, electric razor, plug-in speakers, computer keyboard and a computer mouse. To begin with we took these objects apart to see how the parts were put together and to see how the mechanics and electronics worked. 

collection of items (Noller, 2011)

disassembly (Noller, 2011)

Some of the objects such as the razor where very difficult to open up as can be seen below, however things like the keyboard and mouse where quite easy to open and still understand how it operated. 

finding the screw (Noller, 2011)

(Noller, 2011)

Eventually the razor was opened, which revealed a simple motor, parallel razor blades and on/off switches. The next task was to get the motor working again. The electronics looked fine so we opted to try some new batteries, which we got going with the cooperation of another team.

opened razor showing motor and batteries (Noller, 2011)

(Noller, 2011)

taking contacts off old batteries (Noller, 2011)

attaching new batteries with rubber bands (Noller, 2011)

At this point the other team brought across a toy boat with working propeller but not working motor. We then set about putting the motor from the razor together with the boat to get that working again. This was not really producing a new piece of technology however at that point I think it was necessary for us in order to understand what the idea of the task was. A few attachment were needed to be change to fit the two pieces together which can be see below and this got the boat working again. 

After getting the boat working again, we decided to find some other pieces from the other products to create some kind of tangible model. We decided to attach the wheel from a computer mouse onto the motor of the razor to make it go around in circles to perhaps inspire some other uses for it. 

Another more practical alteration was when we put the propellor from a toy helicopter onto the motor. firstly it was put on and worked fine but the air was being directed back towards the motor. After changing which way it was on, it directed the air towards the user.

lifetec: week two

The visit to Lifetec left me feeling a little depressed by the design and availability of the products that we saw on the displays. There were so many great products that are used everyday by people who are disabled but everyday people who just need some help to do specific tasks. I hadn't fully grasped the amount of people who could potentially users of these product and their conditions which include the following:

- broken bones

- strokes

- arthritis

- amputation

- paralysis

- brain injury

- parkinson's disease

- holding a baby

- carrying shopping

The fact that 50% of Assistive Technology is abandoned was a really interesting fact for me as I reflected on everything throughout the day. This can be due to lack of motivation, un-suitable for the needs,  the product that they need doesn't exist yet. I feel that the stigma associated with certain assistive product can also have an effect on the use of the products.

Certain products were really great and I can see uses for them in everyday life for example the attached knife:

one-handed chopping board (Noller, 2011)

The side opening oven is a great one for anybody, it is always so much easier to lift things out of the oven if you can get closer to it and in the right position. 

Side opening oven (Noller, 2011)

The silicon drainer bag is also great because it uses less utensils and works really well, avoiding hot burns and injuries.

Silicon drainer and carrier (Noller, 2011)

I really like this one because it can be useful to anyone, not just dementia and age care users.

Front door key holder

Technologies such as the bed sensors, matt sensor and clock with different indicators on it as can be seen below are a good idea in theory but the reactions they put out are rather jarring and unpleasant.

Alarm clock with attached alert button and carer's remote signaller (Noller, 2011)

Floor matt to alert when someone gets out of bed (Noller, 2011)

Bed sensors for incontinence, movement and could also be used for seizure detection (Noller, 2011)

I think that these product could be executed to a better standard but I also think the matt and the bed sensors could be especially useful to carers. 

The main user-product interfaces were present in the voice and reading technology, the electric wheel chairs and the movable chairs and beds. The reading machines were really good at magnifying reading material and seemed simple enough to use.

Page magnifier for easier reading according to the users needs (Noller, 2011) 

The electric wheel chair interface was a little confusing to move through at times and I don't know how mentally disabled people would learn how to use it easily. The rotating interface was simple enough to use after you go used to it and pressing the sensor with your head but it directs your eyesight to the screen and not where the person is going. It is also very stilted and does not provide much comfort.

Using the chair with the joystick and head control

long distance interaction

alarm clock for deaf children

fashion and interaction design

bill verplank: interaction design

tangible interactions

"Umbrella term' that describes a set of related research and design approaches focusing on: the design of the interaction instead of the visible interface. It prioritizes as principles of design: 

•tangibility and materiality

•bodily interaction

•embeddedness in real spaces and contexts

http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/tangible_interaction.html

Interactions such as the following are tangible interactions:

- the use of Laser walkers and walking sticks to guide the user

- using the pedestrian traffic lights where the touch, sound and sight are all used to guide its use

- motion sensor lighting and living spaces

Our class discussions on this topic after talking about assistive technologies came up with some interest ideas of how this theory could be implemented using product design. 

One of these ideas came about after discussing how children get lost in supermarkets and can't find their way back to the parents. Therefore there was a suggestion that the parent wear a locator and the child would have a gps laser pointer on him that would direct him back to the parent by showing arrows or directions back to the parent on the ground in front of him.