DIGF-2016-001 (Winter 2021) Intro to Wearable Electronics

GlucTech: Low Glucose Warning Necklace

GlucTech is a necklace that can connect to a continuous glucose monitor via Bluetooth. Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) are used by people who have diabetes to control their glucose levels throughout the day. Low glucose levels can be dangerous, and they need immediate care. Most CGMs need to be scanned and don’t give any warnings for low glucose events. This is why GlucTech will turn on LED lights on its necklace pendant, warning the person wearing it to follow their usual treatment. Furthermore, there can be a possibility of creating a network of necklaces that can be used by close friends and family that can check on their loved ones and make sure they’re okay.

Drawings

Designs can be customized with different prints, so it blends with their clothes and make wearing the necklaces enjoyable.

There can also be a phone app that sets reminders and makes connecting with family and friends much easier.

Main User   vs.   Family & Friends

Paper Prototype

The pendant part of the necklace would be made out of wood, the chain would be made out of an e-textile that looks like a soft faux leather cord and the battery container could be made out of plastic covered with some fabric. This is to make the necklace comfortable and easy to wear. Pattern designs could be added to the wood with fabric.

This is a picture of me wearing it.

Material Mood Board

Process

The idea came from the Ideation Exercise where I chose the following set of random words: “necklace” “weak” & “care for someone”

Low glucose events can make a person feel weak and disoriented and a prompt warning can help with symptoms.

Similar Works

MiaoMiao: MiaoMiao is a smart reader for a CGM brand (Freestyle Libre). It works by attaching it on top of the sensor and connecting it with Bluetooth. They now have accessories such as watches that connect with the reader and gives warnings when glucose is off the charts.

Dexcom G6: Dexcom G6 is a CGM that offers warnings through their phone app with no need of scanning it to get readings.

Reference List:

Concept: My wearable is a black mini earring that can detect how long you’re watching the screen with the blue laser emitted by the screen. Once it’s over 3 hours, the device will make a slight sound to remind you that you should give your eyes and body a break. You just need to press the glass gently to stop the sound.

Objective: My wearable is meant to remind people balancing their work time and rest time reasonably. Even if our work and study situation forces us to use computers for long periods  every day, we should stay away from electronic devices for a while. This is to protect our physical health, especially the eyes’ health. In addition, sometimes we feel tired but embarrassed to say it to others. The sound of the earring will make others realize that you have been working for a long time, you need a rest.

Drawings:

Material Mood Board:

Similar Works:

I found two institutions that focus on people’s health and medical care.

1. Sensely APP(2020): Sensely’s avatar and chatbot-based platforms assist insurance plan members and patients with the insurance services and healthcare resources they need, when they need it.Sensely – Apps on Google Play
2. AiCure：AiCure uses an easy-to-use, proprietary AI platform to directly engage and provide support to patients via smartphones to deliver meaningful, high-quality data around patient behavior.AiCure – The link between patients, disease and treatment.

Concept:

My wearable is meant to provide a physical and visual representation of your heart (pulse). It reads your pulse from your wrist as any other fitbit or smartwatch can do. In reaction to your pulse in the wearable will inflate and deflate in sync with your heart rate in real time. As Well as a pedometer correlating with the lights on the wearable in green, yellow, or red to represent if your heart rate is too dangerously high or slow based on how you’re moving.

Objective:

The objective of this wearable is to provide haptic feedback and visual language to help understand or feel or see a part of your body that is well hidden. It could help with breathing and calming yourself being able to give a greater feedback feel in order to assist with breathing if you have anxiety issues and just a greater awareness of your body.

Drawings:

Mood Board:

Similar Works:

Polar H10: Heart rate monitor chest strap. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18, 2021, from https://www.polar.com/ca-en/products/accessories/h10_heart_rate_sensor 
Loveridge, S. (2020, March 17). What is haptic feedback and how will it change the way we play? Retrieved January 18, 2021, from https://www.gamesradar.com/haptic-feedback-explained/

Concept

My wearable is a headband that lights up in different patterns according to the sounds around you. It will change to match the sounds around you and create fun patterns of light related to the sounds or music. The product will have three settings, sounds, music and off. These will correlate to the number of times the power button is pressed. The power button is set behind the left ear of the headband so it is out of sight and doesn’t affect the overall view of the headband.

When activated the headband will connect to the user’s phone via Bluetooth and using the microphone of the phone will sense the sounds around the person and adjust the lighting patterns accordingly. If the user clicks the button a second time then the headband will sync the lights to the pattern of the music either being played from the phone or around the user.

Objective

The objective behind the creation of this product is to create an accessory that can be fun to wear. It is to create a fun headband that will compliment one’s outfit while it is off as well as help make a statement when the user turns the product on.

Headbands and LED strips already exist so my object is a merge between both the headband and the colourful lights to create something fun to wear. A difference between the lights in the market is that my product can adjust the light-based off sounds that are not just from the music being played.

Drawings 

Close-up sketch of the headband with the proposed materials for the product.

Material Mood Board

Similar Works

Two works that I took inspiration from are the following:

1. Sengled Smart Wi-Fi LED (Kozuch, 2021)
2. Twinkly Line (Hager, 2021)

Kozuch, K. (2021, January 06). The best smart light bulbs in 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021, from https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-smart-lights,review-6194.html

Hager, R. (2021, January 11). Twinkly smart light lineup offers fully addressable Lightstrip and Nanoleaf alternatives. Retrieved January 16, 2021, from https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/01/11/twinkly-smart-light-lineup-offers-fully-addressable-lightstrip-and-nanoleaf-alternatives/

My wearable is supposed to be a unisex necklace that monitors your heart rate and flashes colours accordingly, to show bartenders, friends, and wearers themselves that the wearer can no longer drink. This is so that people avoid overdrinking and endangering themselves, as well as making symptoms more evident.

The material of the chain of the necklace will be metal(such as 18k gold/ silver/stainless steel to prevent allergies) and will have a silicone padding at where the node for the pulse detector is. The beads and what reflects the light installed within the necklace chains will be made from glass or plastic.

The necklace isn’t necessarily for all day use since it is meant to prevent overdrinking (although it can be  if the wearer wants to constantly measure their heartbeat). Therefore, like any jewellery, it can get tiring or uncomfortable after being worn for a long time .

It’s inactive state will be the same as when the person is in their usual heartbeat range and will be activated automatically, scaling off of the wearer’s heartbeats. The necklace at its most minimal form, is a singular chain but there are attachable chains of beads to make it into a statement piece. These beads are relatively small for a minimalistic and versatile look, and can be layered for those who wish to wear something more flamboyant. 

Two technologies that are similar and what I drew inspiration from are: 1) Blood pressure monitor (WebMD, 2019).

2) Signal Sending Chip(Reuters, 2018).

References

Home Blood Pressure Monitors: How To Choose The Best One For You. (2019, June 21). Retrieved January 16, 2021, from https://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/how-pick-home-blood-pressure-monitor#1

Reuters. (2018, June 07). Signal sending chip wins prize for new technology to protect women. Retrieved January 16, 2021, from https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-5816499/Signal-sending-chip-wins-prize-new-technology-protect-women.html

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