Stanford University – Design for Wellbeing

Mímir – Turns air into water | 2007-2008

Tobias Larsson — Sun, 22 May 2011 13:17:17 +0000

Design for Wellbeing work to solve the global water crisis
“…lack of access to pure drinking water is one of the key issues facing the world today.”

LTU students, in collaboration with students from Stanford University, Royal Institute of Technology and Lund Faculty of Engineering, were given the task to develop a product that produces clean drinking water from air humidity. During Design EXPE, the annual design fair at Stanford University, the students presented the Mímir prototype, named after the Norse mythology’s guardian of the well of knowledge and wisdom.

Water is the most precious resource known to mankind. Its importance to the survival of life on the planet can hardly be overemphasized. However, lack of access to pure drinking water is one of the key issues facing the world today.

Traditional sources such as rivers, lakes and ground water have proved to be highly unreliable sources of drinking water. Therefore, there is a need to develop a novel, innovative technology that is more reliable and is able to produce pure, safe drinking water at all locations even under adverse environmental conditions.

With this vision in mind, the design team set on the task to design and develop a new generation Atmospheric Water Generator to harness nature’s most abundant resource: Air. The project was founded by the US company Immerse Global and the Swedish PIEp. The design team had a unique setting of members from four different Universities – Helsinki University of Technology, Lund Faculty of Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Royal Institute of Technology and Stanford University. Since the most critical objective of the project was reli- able water production, the team decided to focus primarily on the technical aspects of water generation.

During the benchmarking process various processes and technologies prevalent in the water processing industry was explored. The team believes that successful generation of drinking water in arid zones (with relative humidity as low as 20%) would require the development of a better technology. Therefore, all its efforts from the very beginning were geared towards the search of a new technology that would give a marked improvement in performance over all the current designs. Based on the encouraging results of the initial prototypes, the team pursued with the technology of desiccants. Desiccants are chemical substances that have a natural tendency to absorb atmospheric moisture. Based on extensive prototyping and testing the team demonstrated the practical feasibility of the liquid desiccant technology and employed the technology in the final prototype, Mímir.

Mímir produces pure, cheap and fresh drinking water under a wide range of atmospheric conditions. It has been tested to produce approximately 10 liters of water at 41% relative humidity and 22°C. The energy cost per liter of water consumed can be as low as 45 cents at 40% RH. This is not only cheaper than bottled water but is also environmental friendly. The acrylic based exteriors, new look and the unique interface of Mímir provides a complete drinking experience to the user. Mímir has been a breakthrough in the technology and design front, but further testing and optimization is needed before the product could be introduced on the market. Many new aspects of optimization have been realized in the development process and with this knowledge the team has no doubt that the product has a great potential of fulfilling most of the drinking water needs of the world in near future.

“- The project is interesting also from a research perspective, since the student teams face the same challenges as global industry companies when it comes to effective knowledge sharing and distance-spanning communication”, says Andreas Larsson, project leader.

Johan Wenngren demonstrates Mímir

Stanford University, with Professor Larry Leifer in the front row, carries out these types of global innovation projects every year. Apart from the Sweden partners, universities from Finland, Switzerland, Mexico, Colombia and Germany are participating this year. Head sponsors are, to mention a few, Panasonic, BMW, Siemens and GM.

Immerse Global is the owner of patent and developed prototype.

TAGS: air to waterAndreas larssson LTU Luleå University of Technology ME310 mimir sirius Stanford University tobias larsson

Nosphere | 2007

Tobias Larsson — Sun, 08 May 2011 13:08:08 +0000

The Nosphere (Nösphere was the original name) is a product that is patented together with Stanford University and that was developed within the project NeedInn – Need Centered Product Innovation within E-health, and in Stanford University ME310. The concept was developed in part also in the Future Elderly Environment student project.

The Nosphere motivates elderly people to activate the memory through a more physical interaction with images.

The Nosphere conceptual layout

TAGS: Andreas larsssonLTU madelene larsson ME310 needinn nosphere sirius Stanford University tobias larsson

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

Future Elderly Environment | 2005-2006

admin — Sat, 07 May 2011 17:59:02 +0000

PROJECT BRIEF

When: 2005-2006 (finalized)

What: In this international project, students from LTU and Stanford University have worked together to develop a product that enhances the wellbeing for elderly. The future elderly environment project aimed to develop a product based on the needs that elderly have today and will have tomorrow. The idea of the final product came through one of the conceptual prototypes that were made during the project. The students from the future elderly environment project made an individual product that activates and promotes the social interaction between elderly and relatives. The product that was presented will be implemented in a new elderly home in Luleå.

Who: Student team at Luleå University of Technology together with Stanford University.

Documentation:

Project brief: PDF | 0.3 MB
Project report: PDF | 3 MB

NOTE: The Nösphere is patented together with Stanford University, that also manages licenses for commercialisation of the technology

PROJECT SUMMARY

Background

The elderly care is changing. Expected retirements of a large number of people born in the 1940s, combined with the limited resources in the elderly care, means that fewer employees will care for more elderly. The employees have a variety of technology to make their work easier e.g. lifts and alarms, but to increase the wellbeing of the elderly technological solutions are limited.

The team is convinced that the quality of life for elderly can be improved in many ways.

Assignment

The mission was to “Enhance the wellbeing for people in their latter part of life”. That statement was all the team had to start out with. In order to achieve this, the meaning of ‘wellbeing for elderly people’ first had to be investigated. To narrow down the task the global design team chose to focus on people living at elderly homes. The project began with a needfinding process to discover the needs of the users, and later translate those needs into concepts. From the needs found, activities was singled out and focused on. The team proceeded with the development of a solution that met the requirements and thereby could enhance the wellbeing for people living at elderly homes. An emphasis was on using conceptual prototyping to create various artefacts during the project. The goal is that the final prototype will be implemented for users in a new retirement home. The project was unique in its kind because of the heavy focus on the needs of the users and their participation in the product development process.

Collaboration

The whole project was conducted through global collaboration between four students from Luleå University of Technology, and four students from Stanford University, USA, working together as a team. This showed to be a challenging task due to the two universities having different theories of approaching product development and cultural and geographical separation. The experience of working cross-national was still worthwhile due to that diversity in views gives the best ideas of two worlds. Both halves of the group contributed with their skills, professional and personal, to the process and brought different points of view into the design process.

The Result

In this open-ended project the team members have developed a product based on the needs that their need finding pointed towards. Interaction between elderly and even their relatives were infrequent. The elderly have a lot to tell and if their stories and knowledge disappear it is a big loss for us all. A product that is individual and promotes the social interaction between elderly and relatives will increase the wellbeing of the elderly.

The product that was presented will be implemented in a new elderly home in Luleå.

TAGS: andreas larssonfuture elderly environment healthy ageing LTU Luleå University of Technology madelene larsson ME310 nosphere sirius Stanford University tobias larsson

Rethinking blood-glucose monitoring | 2005-2006

Tobias Larsson — Sat, 07 May 2011 12:18:59 +0000

PROJECT BRIEF

When: 2005-2006 (finalized)

What: Together with Abbott Laboratories (US), students from LTU and Stanford University, USA, collaborated in this global project to develop a new type of glucose monitoring system for children with diabetes. The project’s success has been dependent on the daily global collaboration and communication.

Who: Student team at Luleå University of Technology, Stanford University ME310 class, together with Abbott Laboratories.

Documentation:

Project brief: PDF | 1.5 MB

TAGS: Abbott LaboratoriesLTU Luleå University of Technology ME310 sirius stanford 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