“KITA” Kinesiofeedback device for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD

Design of a behavioral toy for ADHD children, called KITA, Kinesiofeedback Toy for ADHD, that provides positive feedback to ADHD children towards increasing their awareness and sense of control over excessive physical activity. There are few interactive products that support learning process for children with cognitive or mental conditions relating to ADHD.

Based on research through design and close involvement of stakeholders, a tangible user interface combined with accelerometers was used to develop the toy that can provide direct visual feedback to young children on the amount of recommended physical movement during the course of a school day. To create a sense of reward the toy can be placed in an expressive ball, which depicts the toy’s state. Results of pilot testing demonstrated a significant increase in child self-control over physical movement.

“SHARE THE MOMENT” Integrated Portable Multimedia Device

Share the Moment is a design concept focused on how the current technology tendencies affect the user’s behaviour about how and where people use these electronic devices. By using the “Pressure Cooker Design Method” we aimed to explore and research the company, the costumer and the market, and thus be able to test several design alternatives for an innovative Portable DVD player.

The project will also provide a strategic product development framework for ELMARC (Dutch company that distributes products produced and designed in China and Japan). This company wants to change from being distributor to producer. They want to create their own designs since until now they have not found a product that corresponds to their design expectations (in both in function and aesthetics). by Gonzalez, Kusamawardhani, Van de Kreke, Leal, Jimenez.

“CATCH THE ANIMALS” Balance game

Expressive-movement-centred game in which bodily interaction with physical objects is the main purpose. The final balance game incorporates movement, expressiveness, social interaction fun and enjoyment. The users improve their balance skills by controlling and playing the game.  A study was conducted to test the prototype on the dimensions of engagement, control and richness.

The concept for the game was to have two players collaborating with each other in order to move a ball around a maze and finally into a hole. In the game the farmer’s wife realized that the cow, the pig and the chicken had escaped from the farm. The players are the farmer and the mission is to catch the animals and get them back to the farm one by one before they get lost. Sensors, leds and sounds controlled by MAX/MSP Software, were added to increase the engagement of the players. by Leal and Jimenez.

“MOODBALL” Philips MoodLight – Redesigning a remote control

This project is about Philips´ MoodLight, a lamp designed for the Asian market. The functioning of this product, especially the remote control, was focused on. Usability testing was done to discover usability problems. Based on the outcomes, a redesign was developed and tested again. The ultimate goal of this project was to achieve an improvement on the current usability of the product. Out of the research and user tests a new remote control was developed.

Moodball allows the users to explore the possibilities of the lamp. This remote control helps the users to know how to get from one colour to another. The remote control and its buttons should explain the arrangement of colours that is used in the product, which should be as close as possible to the mental picture that users already have in mind of this arrangement, making the use of the product as intuitive as possible. When this arrangement is clear for the user, feedback from the remote control and the light should support this.

The MoodBall concept works with a colour-control-element, which can control hue, brightness and saturation separately. The colour wheel provides clear visual feedback and the central scroll ball is intended to provoke explorative use. The innovative wheel and scroll combination make this product advanced and therefore suitable to Philips’ Sense and Simplicity. by Cho, Jimenez, Nacken, Rebergen, Tjoeng.