christian johansson – Design for Wellbeing

Two wellbeing projects in Extreme PSS project course

Tobias Larsson — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 11:30:34 +0000

Students in the MSc programmes in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management and Engineering have completed their final product-service innovation projects in the course Extreme Product-Service Innovation. The students have been working on different challenges relating to construction equipment and health care in projects that are aimed at allowing the students to use their engineering skills and tools “In Real Life” with real corporate partners, thus preparing them for their coming work life.

For this batch two teams choose to work with the Design for Wellbeing “angle” together with Blue Science Park and Region Blekinge.

Extreme Product-Service Innovation class 2018/19.

The Projects

This year’s challenges have come from Region Blekinge (formerly County Council Blekinge), Blue Science Park, Dynapac and Volvo Construction equipment. A major focus has been on how to design and enable future concepts for health care and construction respectively, given that more capabilities for digitalization are becoming available.

Blue Science Park

The focus of this project has been on increased independence and wellbeing for people who are in need of increased assistance but still not eligible for full home care initiatives. Some solutions can be attractive enough and make people’s lives better so that they want to consume the solutions (whether it’s products and/or services) privately. Based on needfinding, the students have come up with a solution called C-Connect that consists of a watch band that has sensors and a button. The sensors will monitor information regarding a person’s health status. The information that will be monitored is body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood oxygen. The button will be an emergency button, that the seniors can use to contact someone when needed. Coupled with this the students have developed an app that supports the integration with different stakeholders.

C-Connect solution.

Region Blekinge

The focus of the two Region Blekinge projects was on Mobile Teams and enabling the Care Ward to be in the patients’ homes. With this approach, the idea is both to make better use of resources and also to make care better in quality and more comfortable for the patients who should not need to go to the hospital unless it is absolutely necessary.

With the Mobile teams project created a platform that supports the mobile teams in planning and management of the activities that move out of the hospital. By streamlining multiple processes and collecting all activities under one combined platform the concept will increase both efficiency and patient’s desirability. The solution combines capabilities in logistics, data collection, and digital communication within a smart and easy to use the platform.

Mobile teams interface.

With the Care Ward at Home project, the students have devised a concept called LARM, which is a system of sensors that collect data from the user and communicate to the user via an app. The data is also sent to a monitoring center at the hospital that evaluates the results. By alleviating the patients from having to go to the hospital and instead of remaining in their homes, there is more space cleared up at the hospital for the patients who are more in emergency conditions instead.

LARM interface.

For more information see below site:

Extreme Product-Service Innovation 2018/19 completed

TAGS: blue science parkBTH christian johansson christian johansson askling course project education epsi extreme product service innovation extreme pss innovation ie Landstinget Blekinge Marco Bertoni PSS PSS EI PSS Extreme Innovation PSSEI student project techacc

Wellbeing student projects in BTH course

Tobias Larsson — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 11:24:13 +0000

For their final projects before their master thesis, students from BTH’s masters programmes in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Management and Engineering, and Sustainable Product-Service System Innovation (MSPI) are given challenges from real industrial companies to solve. The course is a central part of BTH’s mantra “In Real Life” readying them for their oncoming work life.

For this year two projects specifically choose to go in the Design for Wellbeing direction.

Check-It

The Check-It team started out with exploring ways of improving patient experience in emergency rooms with the help of vein scanners. Though the needfinding phase they zoomed out to a product-service system view of assisting patients in navigating the long queues that are common in modern healthcare. By being able to check in to the emergency room already from home the patient can, in some less urgent cases, prepare the staff for their arrival and allow for a better planning of their meeting with the doctor. Sometimes one emergency room could be overloaded, while others have better capacity, which could allow patients to find the most suitable place to go to. Of course, for urgent cases patients would still need to come in as soon as possible.

Check-it prototype

Pro-Health

The Pro-Health team were given the challenge to explore the possibilities and needs relating to the opportunity of doing some of their health measurements either from home or from distributed check-up rooms. The students have designed a system that allows users that are well and healthy to proactively manage their wellbeing by use of apps and a process for managing the health-related information and the interactions with health care expertise. The app includes connections with measuring devices whose values are uploaded to their personal journal and an AI doctor can provide suggestions and feedback on appropriate actions to take.

Discussions about Pro-Health simulation model

More information at the below site:

Extreme PSS Innovation 2017/18 completed

TAGS: blekinge institute of technologyBTH christian johansson Marco Bertoni PSS Extreme Innovation student projects

Future Playgrounds AddACTIVE | 2004-2005

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 09:43:51 +0000

PROJECT BRIEF

When: 2004-2005 (finalized)

What: Based on theme of Future Playgrounds, the main interest was captured in the words active, creative and development, while the team’s mission statement was “to construct something that will encourage children to be active and creative in a developing environment”.

Who: Student team at Luleå University of Technology, Stanford University ME310 class.

Documentation:

Project brief: PDF | 0.2 MB
Project report: PDF | 4 MB

PROJECT SUMMARY

At the beginning of September 2004 a group of students began this year’s project called Design for Wellbeing, based on the theme of Future Playgrounds. The main interest was captured in the words active, creative and development, while the team’s mission statement was “to construct something that will encourage children to be active and creative in a developing environment”. The name of the Team became AddACTIVE.

As society evolves through technological advances so do children. The integration of technology has led to a less active population and a changed social interaction. Children in Sweden spend 10 000 hours of their youth watching TV, equivalent to their time spent in grade school. Culture, lifestyle and eating habits have rendered obesity a serious problem in the USA, which has also begun in Scandinavia. We live in a part of the world where people are shortening their life expectancy by their eating. Through adequate physical activity, you can create a longer and healthier life.

The path began with the mission to investigate how the meeting place of the future might be designed to promote physical activity and social interaction in a safe and creative environment. Since this approach is extremely broad, the needs analysis and benchmarking phases of this project were extensive. These phases included several brainstorming sessions, interviews with children, teachers and architects, as well as numerous playground visits in Sweden, Argentina and the USA. In January, AddACTIVE went to the USA to get inspiration and had the opportunity to conduct several brainstorming sessions with both students at Stanford University and people with the knowledge and skills in creative product development. The gathering of information allowed the choosing of a narrower, more focused path, leading AddACTIVE to create a module playground.

Active play develops the physical attributes and social and cognitive development of children. Children need change to be active; hence, the construction of a module ground system. The system makes it possible to change the playground in terms of size and the combinations of features. Consisting of a ground plate, surface tile, poles and mountings, together these make a unit. The size of the playground depends on how many units you choose to combine.

A well-designed playground provides wide-ranging opportunities for exercising balance, strength and body control. It also develops the child’s learning capabilities and provides a preparatory forum for school life. The playground is constructed for outdoor use since daylight and fresh air are ingredients in a long and healthy life.

TAGS: andreas larssonchildren christian johansson LTU Luleå University of Technology ME310 modular playground sirius Stanford University tobias larsson

INTELiCare | 2003-2004

Tobias Larsson — Sun, 08 May 2011 08:51:22 +0000

PROJECT BRIEF

When: 2003-2004 (finalized)

What: Intel’s Proactive Health project is seeking creative technology designs and demonstration prototypes in two primary areas: social health monitoring and support (SHMS) and daily routine monitoring and management (DRMM).

Documentation:

Project Brief: PDF | 0.4 MB

PROJECT SUMMARY

The current goal of Intel’s Proactive Health project is to explore, demonstrate and test a variety of home health technologies aimed at prolonging elders’ independence and enhancing their quality of life. The initial focus of the Proactive Health project is on addressing the needs of elders coping with various stages of cognitive decline. Social researchers working on the Intel Proactive Health project have conducted extensive ethnographic studies of elder households with the goal of developing a deep understanding of the everyday lives of elders and their caregivers. An important design requirement that emerged from those studies was the need to design and develop novel technologies that can be embedded into the everyday routines and household devices used by elders. Engineers working on the Proactive Health project are currently prototyping a number of sensing technologies based on Intel platforms and infrastructure.

Intel’s Proactive Health project is seeking creative technology designs and demonstration prototypes in two primary areas: social health monitoring and support (SHMS) and daily routine monitoring and management (DRMM).

Social Health Monitoring and Support (SHMS)

Social Health Monitoring and Support focuses on detecting, monitoring and facilitating social interaction between elders and other people-what Intel’s Proactive Health team refers to as “social connectedness.” A key technical challenge in this area involves detection of elder interaction (in person, on the phone, or via some other communication technology). Technology solutions that enable SHMS should be designed and developed with the goal of addressing questions such as:

What are some ways of enabling a remote caregiver to detect when an elder is interacting with another person?
What channel of communication is being used during a particular elder interaction (i.e. face-to-face, telephone, etc.)?
How long did the interaction last?
What was the interaction about?
How can certain changes in elder speech patterns be detected that might signal cognitive decline or other problems?
What are some non-intrusive ways of providing elders with feedback about their level of social connectedness (e.g. through the use of ambient displays)?

One technology approach might involve the use of mote-based wearable sensors that detect certain conversational properties. Imagine for instance a pendant worn by an elder that records the number of minutes he or she spends talking. Another approach might be a brooch worn by an elder that measures the number of gaps between his or her words. Output from such devices could be sent to an application running on a PC that generates certain conversational statistics. These statistics could, in turn, be used to provide a measure of an elder’s social health as well as longer-term changes in speech fluency.

Daily Routine Monitoring and Management (DRMM)

The focus of Daily Routing Monitoring and Management is on monitoring elders’ daily routines and assisting them with their routines on an as-needed basis. Technologies designed for DRMM should address questions such as:

What are some ways of detecting whether an elder followed or departed from his or her morning ritual?
What are some means for detecting whether an elder is having a “good” day or a “bad” day?
What are some ways of sensing when a remote caregiver needs to be alerted?
What are some ways of distinguishing between urgent and non-urgent information about the elder?
What are some non-intrusive ways in which non-urgent information about an elder’s day can be shared with a remote caregiver?
What kinds of informational displays are more appropriate for use in an elder’s home?
What are some ways of helping an elder get started on their routine or pick up where they left off if they’ve lost their way?

Technology solutions might employ mote-based technologies that place low demands on an elder’s attention and involve minimal learning (e.g. via use of ambient displays). Imagine, for example, a kinetic sculpture that provides an elder with information about how far he or she is from achieving his or her daily exercise goal. Alternatively, imagine a technology that might help the elder detect emergent opportunities to take a walk with a friend. Technologies designed and developed for DRMM should focus on intuitive, unconventional indicators and employ technologies that can be embedded in tangible objects versus technologies that use LEDs and traditional monitor-based displays.

The results

The result presented in May was the system with the two included devices that has been successfully given the properties that the project group aimed for. A few new creative functions have emerged that aim to fulfil and further exceed the user’s expectations.

Looking back on this project, having used this product development methodology in a distributed collaboration with Stanford University and the Royal Institute of Technology, the INTELiCARE members feel they have been successful in creating new solutions that promote the wellbeing of elderly people.

The team

Joakim Eriksson, Christian Johansson, LTU

TAGS: christian johanssonehealth intel joakim eriksson LTU Luleå University of Technology ME310 sirius Stanford University

Cre[ativo]2 | 2003-2004

admin — Tue, 03 May 2011 19:24:19 +0000

PROJECT BRIEF

When: 2003-2004 (finalized)

What: To develop a safe mobility device that is easy to maneuver on varied terrains and in multiple weather conditions.The device should also improve user access to facilities and transportation, while being easily transportable.

Documentation:

Project brief: PDF | 0.4 MB
Project report: PDF | 4.8 MB

PROJECT SUMMARY

In this international project students worked on expanding today’s concept of mobility devices for active users. The primary goal was to address the challenges that people with disabilities face due to winter conditions.

Imagine yourself going up a steep grade in the dead of winter. There is a light dusting of snow and a thin layer of ice on the ground because it was warm the day before. You can barely keep yourself from falling let alone walk up the hill. That wing-flapping motion with your arms isn’t helping. Now imagine that same scenario but this time in a wheelchair that is meant for traversing linoleum floors. If you thought you were getting nowhere walking, try spinning around for a while!

The Task

CRE[ATIVO]2 is part of the Design for Wellbeing initiative, and its main goal is to enhance the wellbeing of persons with disabilities by using their description of needs as a starting point for product development.

The team started out with only one set of keywords to frame the scope of the project: active, winter, leisure time. From these words the team started to focus on mobility devices.Through rigorous needs analysis and benchmarking of current solutions the group discovered the need for winter-adaptable manual wheelchairs.Thus, the mission statement for the CRE[ATIVO]2 project was formulated:

To develop a safe mobility device that is easy to maneuver on varied terrains and in multiple weather conditions.The device should also improve user access to facilities and transportation, while being easily transportable.

International Cooperation

The work has been conducted in an iterative development process on a global scale. Eight students from Luleå University of Technology and four students from Stanford University, USA, have worked together as a single team, where each geographically separated group has contributed its own skills and viewpoints, both culturally and professionally, to solve the task. This, together with the fact that the two universities have different theories of approaching product development, has allowed the team to apply the best of both worlds during their work.All participants were also exposed to technologies supporting collaborative design, providing crucial experiences in multinational teamwork.

Results

Through numerous concept generations and evaluations, a light-weight composite wheelchair and a tire cleaning system was developed. By using composites instead of metal, the weight of the wheelchair was reduced, thus allowing for the addition of extra features while still keeping the chair lighter than the most popular chairs on the market today.

A center of gravity adjustment feature was added, whereby the user can adjust the center of gravity position while in the chair. This allowed for the backrest to be adjustable in different positions, giving the user added comfort.Traction in winter was improved by the addition of clip-ons with a unique tread pattern.

Finally, a wheel cleaning device was created to help the user to clean the chair before entering the house during late winter and early spring, when pavements are wet and dirty.

The team

The team was comprised of many different feilds of study. These fields vary from Education to Mechanical Engineering. This diverse knowledge base is what in theory will help to create a product that serves the needs of the user. With ideas and experience comming from all these different areas will prove to have the greatest impact in the project. There is also another group to add to this pool of knowledge, that being a group from Standford University.

1st Row: Emma Nyberg (LTU), Jimmy Segerstedt (LTU), Karlin Bark (SU), John Kapla (LTU), Brett Swope (SU), Kajsa Dymling (LTU), Malin Ludvigson (LTU). 2nd Row: Boel Arlock (LTU), Jimmy Holmström (LTU), James Parle (SU), Hans Wikström (LTU), Jeremy Melul (SU).

TAGS: christian johanssoncreativo2 LTU Luleå University of Technology ME310 Stanford University tobias larsson