Our Process
Design Brief Stage
We wanted to find a cause to address and base our device on. One of our team member's own grandmother, Veena was diagnosed with atypical Parkinson's and has to get used to life with weakened grip, limiting her ability to use tools and utensils. We decided to focus on her cause and find out more about her condition and lifestyle needs.
Concept Development
We began coming up with as many concepts to address the issue of weakened grip. We went through iterations of utensils, bracelets, and other creative solutions before settling on a brace type design. Our blitz prototype shows the main conditions that our device would feature: a wrist attachment, an ex-tensor, and grip mechanism.
Prototype 1
Our first edition featured a strong velcro brace with a single-wire support within the sheath. Gripping material was applied to the under side of the sheath to aid in grip. Although functional, our feedback showed that the brace could stand to be more comfortable and soft, and that the wire was too long to be practical. These changes are addressed in the next prototype.
Prototype 2
Using the feedback from the first prototype, we acquired a softer foam based brace and shortened the wire length. Weights were also added to address typical Parkinson's patients who may exhibit tremor. The weights help stabilize the hand movements and limit tremor movement.
Final Design
In our final design version, we decided to address the use of wearing this in public. For the sake of staying discrete, we wish to release a skin tone palette version of the device to draw even less attention to the device. We also wish to add a storage loop to keep the extensor put away when not in use with a utensil.