Anthropological Industrial Designer
Strategic, Innovative, & Futuristic Problem-Solver
Humanity-Centered & Versatile Fabricator
SensiCuff
Problem:
The incidence of health problems is only rising, even if our knowledge about the body and its health is at a historic high. Part of the problem is one of a technological nature: personal data provisions and access to and control of one’s health. There’s an enormous difference between knowing the type and magnitude of a particular metric (i.e. blood sugar levels) that cause serious detriments to one’s health, and knowing in real time your personal levels and being able to control those levels to prevent a substantial associated illness (diabetes).
With this project, I hoped to design a medical device that might exist in the future I want, that fulfills the following requirements:
- the possibility for continuous (long-term?) data collection
- access by the user (and the user alone) to said data
- a location on the body that allows for maximum sensor and data types and quality
- a cyborg/transhuman element - invasive, breaks the skin, becomes part of the body
- that seems an organic extension to today's technology
I hope to speculate upon and explore the possibilities in form & function of wearable medical devices for the world I imagine for our future.
Target User:
The target user for this product is someone who desires:
- access to and control over their health data
- that their data be of high quality and precision
- a product that utilizes technologies that are currently (2023/4) in development but not yet ready for commercial use
- a product that is fashionable as well as high-tech
My target user would also be open to and/or interested in invasive devices / cyborg ~vibes~
Context Research & Conceptual Development
Research & Ideation
Visual & Content Inspirations
Market Research
Final Design
Design Constraints
What am I designing?
Wearable Device (that has a cyborg-style, embedded sensor element) that taps into most advanced technologies (currently in development) that provide the user with extremely detailed, real-time health data.
Where will it be used?
Specifically, the device would need to be located somewhere on the torso; preferably with access to the cranial fluid.
When will it be used?
As an wearable device, once implanted it would be in constant use if and until the wearer was ready to have it removed.
How will it be used?
The device would need to tap into Intravenous, Subdermal, and Supradermal health data, as well as subcortical hormone data (primarily serotonin and dopamine levels, which can only be measured accurately in subcortical fluid).
The data would be shared via bluetooth to the device(s) requested by the wearer. While I struggle to imagine a world without phones and apps, I limited my design work to the actual device. I'd love to divorce from the world of screens.
How does it differ from other products on the market?
1) Most devices on the market are located on an extremity, which limits the types, amounts, and precision of data collection
2) Current smart wearable devices do not have invasive elements to them, which would increase the precision and range of data accessible to the user.
Looks-like Prototyping
Next Steps
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More time = more research & references!
Want to look into / compare & contrast with Neuralink, hypo-ear, and other references that I did not get to look into
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More looks-like prototypes: I would love to do a silicone version to test out a warmer, more comfortable material, other "aesthetics"-based designs that I worked on,
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I'd love to do longer-term (3 days, 5 days, 2 weeks, etc) user testing on a full spread of users (M/F; older/younger; larger ears/head / smaller ears/head, etc)
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I'd love to work on a CAD of the guts, how the functional elements and sensors would work, how the skin penetration element would work
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Pick a few looks-like prototypes to render in Keyshot
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Exploring range of manufacturing/fabrication options
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Creating an approximation of a works-like prototype, using the guts of a fitbit or similar existing skin sensor technologies
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In an ideal world, I would also get to work with the lab at MIT working on the Carbon Electron Array technology for dopamine measurement