Case Studies
Pegia
Pegia is a VR installation for parents-to-be emphasizing responsive parenting through visuals based on research of attachment and communication. Through the simple act of perceiving, the user can attentively watch as an unfamiliar yet alluring visual world is revealed, representing a child's complex and dynamic mentalities. By interacting with key plants, the environment unveils its distorted textures - showing visual patterns which highlight stressful emotions - that the parent may need to respond to.
The experience is founded on the understanding that a child's mental state is unknown and constantly changing - however, in order to be responsive as a caregiver, the parent must attempt to understand it and interpret it as a wondrous new world to explore. This is the foundation of the experience, where the user can peek into an entirely different-looking world that represents the child's mind.
Miimi
Miimi is a sensory-imbued doll for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), aiming to solve the general difficulty of developing emotional understanding and uncertainty of how to parent from the caregiver. This complex issue involves the caregiver as well, so a comprehensive companion app complements Miimi. Inspired from the sounded phrase "Me & Me", Miimi's name is constructed to reflect the child and caregiver (the first 2 i's, "Mii"), with the product assisting their relationship (the third i, "mi"). While the child carries their newfound companion anywhere they go, the parent will be able to receive information to better their parenting effectiveness for them.
The doll operates through a friendly interface the child can engage with as a companion, with music and interactive prompts to let them dance and play. Leading research shows movement, pressure, and eye contact detail emotional cues in the child - Miimi captures those data points and provides concise summaries for the caregiver in the app. Appearance is vital; the visual design of the doll is made simple, friendly, and predictable to not intimidate the child. Combined with customizable weaves and looks, personalization creates further meaning in the product for each child's Miimi and mitigates stigma that surrounds assistive devices.
Aidey Bandages
Aidey is the portable one-handed bandage dispenser for children to self-treat their minor injuries. The package’s intention is soothing an injury’s nature of pain, using vibrant and pleasing colours with the visual form of a cute animal. Research into the behaviour of household pets shows that the act of licking is positive, from cleaning their offspring to showing affection; inspired by these reasons, Aidey dispenses bandages in an animal form, where it comes out of the mouth like a tongue.
The dispenser works by stroking a strip at the top of the box, letting the child emulate a “petting” motion. This playful interaction further distracts the user's injury they sustained. When the bandage comes out of the mouth, a sticker appears with a playful graphic; it also distracts and rewards the user, similar to being given a piece of candy after a dentist appointment to comfort the patient.
Historia
Historia was an app created in Adobe XD for a 48-hour design competition featuring A+E Networks. Designed for high school and university students, it is a smart tool to efficiently curate research sources for history projects, utilizing History Channel articles and photos in accordance to the design challenge requirements.
Historia caters towards seamless access to research for high-school/college students. The app takes its role in providing History channel’s articles and videos, making it easy and less time-consuming finding/organizing resources for projects using a vast library of content. Overall, Historia helps users to find sources easier, organize sources on a project-by-project basis, access and cite content quickly, and answer specific research questions.
