Introduction
After several weeks of concept development, research and team meetings, our design team eventually decided on a final design.
The team initiated a design freeze and worked on a process of selecting designs and determining which concepts offered the best potential and which concepts met the deliverables set out in the client brief. In order to achieve this, the team's concept design phase was intense and repetitive. However, we were able to arrive at a well thought out and innovative product.
The team initiated a design freeze and worked on a process of selecting designs and determining which concepts offered the best potential and which concepts met the deliverables set out in the client brief. In order to achieve this, the team's concept design phase was intense and repetitive. However, we were able to arrive at a well thought out and innovative product.
Product
The final product is a system of integrated components that collect, store and evaluate information all for the purpose of improving work place health and safety, employee efficiency and employee's mental and physical well being.
The final design is a set of interact gloves and a central communication hub. The gloves are worn by the employees while they are working and using various tools and electrical equipment. The context is a local construction site and the employees are floor preppers.
In terms of behaviour, the gloves act as an 'external sensory organ' which detects when employees are experiencing pain or discomfort. The sensor points are located according to people's natural behaviours when they are experiencing symptoms of pain.
The team conducted a brainstorming session to identify ways in which everyday people communicate they are in pain or experiencing a injury. The images below are a synopsis of what our team believed were the most common areas people hold, clench, touch and squeeze when they are in pain. The main regions of the body that were focused on included the hand, wrist and upper forearm.
All of the images above more or less focus on the region between the index finger and the thumb. Through further discussion the team arrived at the conclusion that the index finder and the thumb are heavily relied because they provide people with effective grip and reliable support. In addition, the index finger and thumb also offer people dexterity and an ability to adapt to different situations. For example, because people rely so heavily on their thumb and index finger they end up placing a tremendous amount of strain to this particular region and as a result, people try and compensate by nurturing this region with their other hand. This discussion proved to be highly resourceful as it clarified why people experience symptoms of pain in this region of the hand.
If the user experiences pain they are able to squeezes this region and the site manager will be immediately notified and made aware of the information. This information can then be used by the manager to hold regular rest periods to allow workers to rest and regain full range of motion in their hand.
The gloves, collect information, this information is then relayed via visual cues to alert employees and make them aware of their surroundings and individual conditions. The gloves detect vibration which is produced from the electrical tools they are using. Once the glove detects too much vibration a warning light comes on to make the employee aware that they are causing excess strain and stress to their body. If the employee decides to ignore the warning signs, there is built in radio-frequency identification (RFID) system which turns the tool off. An RFID tag would be used in this design for the purposes of automatic identification and tracking. The tag will be located on the glove and would be able to individually track each employee's physical status. The image below is an example of how a tag built into the glove would give employees the ability to log in and out. This 'logging process' serves as the means by which employees manage their tasks and tool usage.
This action ensures the employee does not cause additional stress to their body. Furthermore, the glove will also have utilize different types of grips to add additional support for the employee while they are working with tools. The fact that the grips are attached to the glove, gives employees a great deal of flexibility in terms of what tools they can use and personal preferences of holding tools a certain way.
Research
The video below outlines the features of a bionic glove designed by a leading orthopedic hand surgeon. I found this video to be highly informative as it covers all the major aspects of what our team needs to consider for the design of our interactive glove.
The video discusses the use of anatomical relief pads which are strategically placed to help even the surface contact of the hand, diminishing the natural peaks and valleys that cause blisters and calluses. Fatigued is dramatically reduced and it actually improves grip strength for people suffering from arthritis. Innovative webbed zones are designed to helped hands breath so they stay cool and dry. The lycro material also helps conform to the hand to ensure best fit, regardless of hand size.
The final design is a set of interact gloves and a central communication hub. The gloves are worn by the employees while they are working and using various tools and electrical equipment. The context is a local construction site and the employees are floor preppers.
In terms of behaviour, the gloves act as an 'external sensory organ' which detects when employees are experiencing pain or discomfort. The sensor points are located according to people's natural behaviours when they are experiencing symptoms of pain.
The team conducted a brainstorming session to identify ways in which everyday people communicate they are in pain or experiencing a injury. The images below are a synopsis of what our team believed were the most common areas people hold, clench, touch and squeeze when they are in pain. The main regions of the body that were focused on included the hand, wrist and upper forearm.
All of the images above more or less focus on the region between the index finger and the thumb. Through further discussion the team arrived at the conclusion that the index finder and the thumb are heavily relied because they provide people with effective grip and reliable support. In addition, the index finger and thumb also offer people dexterity and an ability to adapt to different situations. For example, because people rely so heavily on their thumb and index finger they end up placing a tremendous amount of strain to this particular region and as a result, people try and compensate by nurturing this region with their other hand. This discussion proved to be highly resourceful as it clarified why people experience symptoms of pain in this region of the hand.
If the user experiences pain they are able to squeezes this region and the site manager will be immediately notified and made aware of the information. This information can then be used by the manager to hold regular rest periods to allow workers to rest and regain full range of motion in their hand.
The gloves, collect information, this information is then relayed via visual cues to alert employees and make them aware of their surroundings and individual conditions. The gloves detect vibration which is produced from the electrical tools they are using. Once the glove detects too much vibration a warning light comes on to make the employee aware that they are causing excess strain and stress to their body. If the employee decides to ignore the warning signs, there is built in radio-frequency identification (RFID) system which turns the tool off. An RFID tag would be used in this design for the purposes of automatic identification and tracking. The tag will be located on the glove and would be able to individually track each employee's physical status. The image below is an example of how a tag built into the glove would give employees the ability to log in and out. This 'logging process' serves as the means by which employees manage their tasks and tool usage.
This action ensures the employee does not cause additional stress to their body. Furthermore, the glove will also have utilize different types of grips to add additional support for the employee while they are working with tools. The fact that the grips are attached to the glove, gives employees a great deal of flexibility in terms of what tools they can use and personal preferences of holding tools a certain way.
Research
The video below outlines the features of a bionic glove designed by a leading orthopedic hand surgeon. I found this video to be highly informative as it covers all the major aspects of what our team needs to consider for the design of our interactive glove.
The video discusses the use of anatomical relief pads which are strategically placed to help even the surface contact of the hand, diminishing the natural peaks and valleys that cause blisters and calluses. Fatigued is dramatically reduced and it actually improves grip strength for people suffering from arthritis. Innovative webbed zones are designed to helped hands breath so they stay cool and dry. The lycro material also helps conform to the hand to ensure best fit, regardless of hand size.
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