Based on work by Hannah Perner-Wilson, Andrew Quitmeyer, Rad students, and more!
Online documentation:
https://stfyxy6.wixsite.com/nm4225
Print documentation:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M8cbg534kcA29LhU9JJDuzRyxzYNzrJg/view?usp=drivesdk
Product video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oleY_1VTOOIdXjdD-j_Nw6caytdllHaW/view?usp=drivesdk
Field trip 1: Red Dot Museum – Organiser
I organised a field trip to the Red Dot Museum (located near MBS) on September 25th.
“The Red Dot Design Museum’s permanent exhibition, “A Preview of the Future – Red Dot Award: Design Concept” initiates guests into the mindset of good design. It showcases more than 345 award-winning design concepts.”
Hence I thought that it would be extremely relevant as we started laying the groundwork in conceptualising and designing our wearable studios. The trip was incredibly fruitful was it was inspiring to see how design can make everyday things into art and bring functionality into our lives.
Field trip 2: Making moisturisers and insect repellents
Tools/materials needed:
– Small containers
– Glass rod
– Stainless steel pot
– Essential oils
– Moisturizer base
Theo started off the workshop by explaining to us where the ingredients for his products are sourced from, and some of the benefits of the different essential oils such as anti-oxidizing properties or those that can help you to sleep better!
Theo started off the workshop by explaining to us where the ingredients for his products are sourced from, and some of the benefits of the different essential oils such as anti-oxidizing properties or those that can help you to sleep better!
The process first begins with customizing our moisturizer with a preferred scent using a combination of essential oils like ylang ylang, lavender, mint and rose. No more than 10 drops of essential oil should be used and they we were given a metal circular container to put them in.
Subsequently, Theo scooped a premade mix of jojoba, extra virgin coconut oil, aloe vera and glycerin which is the base for the moisturizer.
Following that, we mixed the essential oils and the base with a glass rod while it was still warm to make sure that the essential oils would be fully blended together with the base before it solidifies.
Lastly, let we let the mixture cool and popped the lid on!
Next up, Theo walked us through how his insect repellent is different and how it was concocted. It was his secret recipe + water + added essential oils to mask the smell.
Workshop 3 – SG food rescue
SG Food Rescue saves veggies and fruits from being thrown away. These
After rescuing the vegetables, they are first distributed among Food Rescuers for their own consumption. Subsequently, the majority of the rescued fruits and vegetables are channelled to soup kitchens and charitable organisations that feed the needy.
It was interesting to learn and understand that we might have been “Supermarket” washed by believing that only fruits and vegetables that are deemed to be perfect and free from flaws are edible. There is nothing wrong with a little flaw. 😉
For this workshop, I was teaching the class how to design and create a simple prototype of an app that can be functional as well.
To start off, we started by drawing a simple sketch of how they envisioned their apps to look like, and subsequently use coloured markers to shade the sketches so that they can envision the colour scheme of the app.
Next, I went through with the participants on how sketch and invision works, and what are they used for. Sketch is the software that is used to create the app prototype, whereas Invision is the software to make the prototype functional.
The movie iBoy creates a science fiction narrative by the projection of glitchy looking rows of code from electronic devices like laptops and mobile phones as well as from buildings to show the extent of Tom’s ‘powers’. When the audience sees these scenes, we can automatically understand that this is a science fiction movie that is not grounded in reality. Tom had somehow acquired these ‘powers’ after bits of his cellphone was embedded in his brain after a violent attack.
Picture credits: Netflix
Fast forward to 2102, mankind’s obsession with aesthetics was the mood of the century. Everyone sought the latest technologies and gadgets to achieve the ideology of a ‘perfect’ aesthetic.
In order to advance the social ladder or maintain your social status, points were awarded by those around you based on how they perceived your aesthetic. Brands and companies vied with one another to invent the most cutting edge technology for consumers.
With that, make.io invented a cutting edge machine that looks similar to the MRI machines in year 2018.
This machine – Make Bot, can zap away all your imperfections and with their plasma skin rejuvenation technology, you can walk out of the treatment with flawless and poreless skin with no down time needed.
Botox? That’s a thing of the past. With its special
Cover Art
Storyworld
Fast forward to
With so little time and so much wealth, humans started being obsessed with elevating their standard of living as much as they can during the precious 4 hours that they have each day. With less time being allocated to
Just like robots, humans need some maintenance too.
Microfiction #1 – Stephanie
The skyscrapers were stacked one after another, and the roads that we know today has ceased to exist. Humans zipped around in glass elevators from one place to another in a fraction of a second – there was no moment to lose.
With such little time left in a day each day, humans gradually stopped spending time on ‘frivolous’ and unimportant things like maintaining social relationships. Rather, they sought after more superficial things that they deemed would elevate their status in the eyes of society and those around them.
They had beauty and health appointments scheduled everyday. Visits to the clinics, spas and beauty treatments as we knew it have ceased to exist. With the rapid increase in demand for skyscrapers for work and housing, these spaces were gradually phased out. Instead, they had daily visits from the various beauticians so as to ensure that they are constantly in the best form possible.
As Sasha opened her front door, a ‘ding’ went off from the elevator. “Mmm.. right on time” she murmured under her breath.
The TCM practitioner, Stacy, was decked out in white and her look was complete with a lab coat.
“Hi Miss Sasha, please place your thumb here so that we can scan your heart rate, blood pressure and stress levels.”
“Have you had any discomforts since the last I saw you 48 hours ago,” Stacy continued.
Sasha sighed and lamented: “Well.. Yes. My lower back has been hurting, can you do something about that please?”
“Yes, of course! We’ll look to that right away!”
Stacy’s mobile phone beeped as the health report came back.
The aroma diffuser went off and soft slow music started to play from the speakers. Sasha sighed and lay down on her chest – it was time for rejuvenation and healing.
Microfiction #2 – Charmaine Goh
She could only arrange for a maximum of two clients a day with each appointment lasting an hour long. Catching only 2 hours of sleep on days when her appointments were fully booked. Any delay in the first appointment or mistakes made would cost Stacy her customer in this highly competitive part-time service industry.
She can’t risk that. Not with all the debts her father left her.
In the day, Stacy works as a app developer in the information and technology industry but the pay is insufficient to sustain her living so she had little choice but to work as a part-time Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner from the 20th to the 22nd hour of the day. As a result, on days without clients, Stacy spent her time developing the most efficient medical tool box that is capable of providing her customer with an unique, quality, and therapeutic TCM experience to secure them.
Time was ticking.
“BP – 110, HR – 80, Estimated Stress Level – High, Recommended Aromatherapy – No.032”
The screen on her mobile lighted up, reflecting the patients’ details as the patient placed her finger on a small black box with red light emitting out of it. Background music started playing on auto and the aroma diffuser went off.
Stacy then detached a inflatable mattress from the bag and threw it into the air lightly. The mattress unfolded into a fully pumped cushion for the patient to lie on.
“We will be proceeding with our second electrolysis acupuncture session for your backache. Please feel free to take a rest during the process,” Stacy commented.
After administering the needles, Stacy pulls out the electrolysis machine powered by the portable energy stored in her bag. She then proceeds on to connect the wires to the needles.
Stacy’s eyes gradually became heavier as the aroma of No.032 slowly diffused throughout the house. Developed by Stacy, the diffuser scent is customised to each and every patient’s’ condition, which can help patients to de-stress while regulating their heart rate to the most optimal level for treatment.
Right when the alarm signifying the end of treatment rings off, Stacy’s eyes sprung open. Relieved that her patient did not find out that she dozed off, Stacy quickly started packing up whilst letting her patient know, “The prescription will be delivered to you as per usual, do follow the same instructions and within two weeks and your backache should fully recover fully!”
“Thanks Dr. Stacy. It was the best and most efficient TCM experience I’ve ever had! Will definitely refer you to my friends and family members,” replied the patient.
Stacy smiled and walks off with a heavy feet to her next appointment…
After much discussion, Charmaine and I decided to focus on the TCM practice as we felt that it was a gap that is being overlooked by the younger generation. However, we both saw the value in preserving this practice as our Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong noted that as our population ages, TCM will potentially be able to meet the healthcare needs of the elderly as they tend to fuse Western and Eastern medical care. Our Health Ministry has also allocated extra funding to develop and support the Traditional Chinese Medicine sector and this includes S$5 million over the next five years for the TCM Research Grant.
This also led us to think about how we can make TCM more appealing to the younger generation as Derrick had also pointed out that the younger generation generally only seeks TCM for sports injuries like sprains.
Cultural Probes:
We designed a cultural probe and requested the help of
In addition, we provided an MRT map and stickers, asking him to mark out the area of his patients’ place where he has to travel to as well as the clinic that he practices in to see how much he had to travel.
Lastly, a pen was provided as well as a notepad for additional notes that he has with regards to his practice.
Services:
Pain Points:
The pain points Dr Soh wrote was mainly for the house visits as he mentioned that generally practicing TCM in the clinic itself is conducive as everything is at reach. However, for house visits, due to limited bag space, he could only limit the tools to bring along based on patients’ description of their illnesses to him prior to their appointment through phone calls or Whatsapp. Because there is no standard TCM bag, it sometimes can be disorganized and troublesome to have so many tools contained in his personal bag pack with limited slots that are catered to TCM tools.
His bag was often heavy. He also talked about how certain treatments are limited such as the electrolysis machines stimulation due to difficulties in finding a power source that is of reach to the area where he carries out the treatment during house visits
Patients:
He noted that his patients generally did not have any complaints about receiving treatment at home, and services like acupuncture and cupping
Our thoughts and findings:
We felt that there is definitely a gap that is overlooked for TCM practitioners. Photographers have special bags that are designed for their convenience and comfort, why do TCM practitioners not have that? This need was something that we can potentially meet if we could make a portable TCM studio for these TCM practitioners. Furthermore, in order to elevate the patient’s treatment experience, we wanted to not just increase their comfort during this treatment process, but rather create an environment that is something similar to a spa or massage experience to elevate the status of TCM as just
Tools/materials needed:
– Small containers
– Glass rod
– Stainless steel pot
– Essential oils
– Moisturizer base
Theo started off the workshop by explaining to us where the ingredients for his products are sourced from, and some of the benefits of the different essential oils such as anti-oxidizing properties or those that can help you to sleep better!
Theo started off the workshop by explaining to us where the ingredients for his products are sourced from, and some of the benefits of the different essential oils such as anti-oxidizing properties or those that can help you to sleep better!
The process first begins with customizing our moisturizer with a preferred scent using a combination of essential oils like ylang ylang, lavender, mint and rose. No more than 10 drops of essential oil should be used and they we were given a metal circular container to put them in.
Subsequently, Theo scooped a premade mix of jojoba, extra virgin coconut oil, aloe vera and glycerin which is the base for the moisturizer.
Following that, we mixed the essential oils and the base with a glass rod while it was still warm to make sure that the essential oils would be fully blended together with the base before it solidifies.
Lastly, let we let the mixture cool and popped the lid on.
Creative practice: Leather crafting
Tools:
– Stitching chisel
– Swivel knife and angled blade
– Leather craft roller
– Sewing Horse
– Strap end punch
– Threads and needles (not featured in the picture below)
Here’s some pictures from the leather crafting workshop! You can see how cluttered the workspace can be due to the number of tools that is needed.
Idea 1 – Prototype
For the prototype, I wanted to create a tool belt that the leather crafter can wear that consists of all the tools and supplies needed. Velcro to secure the tool belt is ideal as it can be adjusted easily to suit all shapes and sizes.
On the left side of the tool belt, you can insert tools into the slits and take them out very easily as well. For tools like the knife blade, I wanted a protective flap that is lined with silicon which can prevent the user from being injured. Initially, I wanted the spools of thread to be on display but moving forward, it might not be ideal or necessary as the space can be used to hold other tools. Furthermore, on a watch strap usually only one colour of thread will be used.
On the right side, the leather samples are clipped to the belt so that the crafter will know what are the types of leather or materials that he has. This way, he or she can show it to their clients easily as well.
The rod like tool will be compatible with attachments such as the leather craft roller, strap end punches in order to minimise the number of tools needed.
The detachable tool pouch consists of the sewing horse, leather craft roller, various strap end punches and the cutting board for the crafter to be able to create his art on the go.
Idea 2 – Customising the strap (Drawing)
After speaking to the leather craftsman, he mentioned that it was often for customers to decide what kind of material they wanted for their straps and the type of end, the colour of the thread etc. Hence, I thought that it would be pretty cool if there was an app for customers to use in order to pick the perfect strap for their watch.
Exoskeletons and Tool Belt
Have you ever wished that your heavy backpack will magically lighten with a snap of your fingers? Well, imagine how your pals in the military who have to lug around a heavy field pack.
NSRDEC has been leading efforts towards the research of exoskeletons can reduce injuries, carrying loads and help troops move around the battlefield and cover terrains with greater ease. It’s sophisticated synthesis of technology such as artificial intelligence that is able to adjust the machinery to move seamlessly with the wearer which is a huge improvement from previous prototypes that actually resists the body’s natural movements.
What are exoskeletons? Exoskeletons are essentially wearable robots that cover the legs and the arms.
Although it’s currently still in development, the K-SRD uses DermoskeletonTM technology licensed from B-TEMIA, to counteract overstress on the lower back and legs when heavy loads are being carried. It supports and boosts leg capacity for physically demanding tasks that require lifting or dragging heavy
In term of aesthetics, it’s reminiscent of the 1959 book “Starship Troopers” by Robert Heinlein which is regarded as the first widely circulated work of fiction to feature military powered armour, and with new technologiesit’s a step closer to reality each day.
Nurse Tool Belt
Let’s dial it down a little and look at something that is less ‘techy’. To be honest I was quite horrified/bewildered at how little advancements or improvement there has been to the ‘tool belt’ for nurses. In fact, if you google ‘Nurse tool belt’ you will find pages after pages of shopping links for you to purchase them from, with little to no links to research or new developments with regards to new developments of the nurse tool belts. It seems like in terms of utility it is serving
Upon doing some quick research, there are a few things that nurses have to carry around at all times.