Myosotis | Therapeutic object for Alzheimer's patients
Product Design
Academic project @Politecnico di Milano - Bachelor degree in Industrial Product Design
Design team: Greta Gamba, Lucia Gualdi, Emanuele Sfregola
March 2017 - June 2017
One of the problems with Alzheimer’s disease is the inability to perform simple activities that before were habitual and which, for sake of interaction and lack of feedbacks, are not motivating and may sometimes become frustrating.
The aim of the project was to demonstrate the design contribute to mental and physical well-being. In this scenario, the biggest challenge was to reconcile operating and technological complexity with absolute ease of use for the user.
SOLUTION
Myosotis is a therapeutic object for Alzheimer’s patients inspired by a plant. Its purpose is to engage the user in a relaxing occupation and, at the same time, to involve and stimulate him/her through a series of feedback and responses to the actions taken.
This object is something that the user needs to take care of. For this reason, we choose to give it the name “Myosotis”, a flower colloquially named “Forget-me-not”, taking inspiration also for the shape and colors.
The product falls into the category of "therapeutic objects", non-pharmacological therapies for people who have cognitive decay and behavioral disorders, with the aim of working on their occupational and relational abilities.
INTERACTION
Myosotis works thanks to an action-feedback system.
The action of watering the plant represents for the user a way of taking care of something, as well as a natural and simple gesture.
If watered, the plant gives back feedback that is both visual (gradual coloring of flowers) and olfactory (steaming of scented water), which stimulate the senses and memory and last over time until the water is exhausted, spurring them to iterate the action.
The plant is also provided with adjustable stems and interchangeable flowers to involve users in a relaxing activity and to stimulate their creativity.
TECHNOLOGIES
The vase is composed of two separate parts, within which are the technological components: a weight sensor, a vaporizer, an oil dispenser and colored circular LEDs.
The functioning of the system is activated when water is poured in the vase and collected inside the vaporizer. The weight of the water is detected by the weight sensor, which activates the vaporizer, the oil dispenser and, in sequence, the circular LEDs. The components interact with each other when the vase is closed and the electrical contacts are aligned.
MODEL AND PROTOTYPE
During the project, a scale model was created to experiment with materials and manufacturing.
Separately, the interactions between technologies were prototyped and tested using Arduino.
