HelioZZZ Sleep Mask by Jack Forman |
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| DESIGN NAME: HelioZZZ PRIMARY FUNCTION: Sleep Mask INSPIRATION: After starting school at MIT, I loved how sunny Boston was. Waking up with the sun was amazing, but as a late sleeper, I did not enjoy waking up so early. I wanted a portable device that allowed me to 'control' the rise and fall of the sun as the Greek god Helios does. As a student, I nap everywhere, so I needed it to fit within my backpack. Mainly, I wanted to combine the programmability of an alarm clock with the subjective experience of waking up with real sunlight (not LEDs). UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: HelioZZZ is an opacity changing eye mask that wakes you up with natural sunlight when you want it. The mask warms your eyes to help you fall/stay asleep and is controllable via a web-app interface. The mask uses a morphing smart hydrogel material to afford the opacity change and is driven by a heating element. Importantly, the thermo-responsive opacity switching happens just barely above skin temperature. OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: Before going to bed, the user sets the alarm on their phone, and the mask becomes opaque and slightly warm to help the user fall asleep. Fifteen minutes before wake up, the mask begins the transition from a clear to an opaque state, allowing sunlight to penetrate through the mask gently waking up the user. the user can further snooze this alarm by pressing the button on the side, which causes the hydrogel to reverse back to the opaque state for 5 minutes. Additionally, since the device can be controlled via a web app, a friend (or lover) who is far away could wake you up in the morning. This enables a ambient form of telepresence. PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project was started in September 2019 and finished in December 2020 in Cambridge, Ma and the MIT Media Lab |
PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: For the Opacity-changing element, we selected (PNIPAM), a biocompatible hydrogel rapidly deswells at ~37°C (right around skin temperature). While the thermoresponsive properties of PNIPAM is a significant area of exploration in drug delivery, the opacity change that also occurs is overlooked. For this work, I synthesized PNIPAM via radical polymerization. The PNIPAM was crosslinked with an embedded heating element that enables the reversible switching between opaque and transparent states. The hydrogel is encased in silicone skin to prevent it from drying. I then designed, milled, and soldered the board needed to control the temperature changes, with a physical snooze button. The board uses an ESP32, a WiFI/Bluetooth module, to enable control via phone/compute. SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: - TAGS: eyemask, smart material, wearable, sleep, alarm RESEARCH ABSTRACT: This research investigates the intersection of smart materials and wearable technolgoies. Here are some of the considerations made in the design of this mask. Material: The material needs to be 1) color switchable 2) triggered at just above body temperature, so it is safe to wear but also not triggered by body heat alone 3) biocompatible 4) soft and flexible 5) Can switch between states in <20 minutes. Electronics: The board needs to 1) be easily connected to/controlled 2) provide the necessary power to heat the PNIPAM at a safe temperature 3) be slim. Form: The form needs to 1) be comfortable 2) include an adjustable strap 2) include a physical snooze button 3) encase enough hydrogel to become completely opaque. CHALLENGE: This work deserves an award due to the difficulty in achieving end-to-end integration between experimental materials and product design. The ability to do so depended on each aspect of the project (material, electronics, product design) to be developed holistically and simultaneously. I was constantly moving between the BL2 wet lab, electronics room, conversations with fellow designers, maker spaces, and literature reviews. Because of this, the many elements of this project blend together and inform each other. For example, the hydrogel layer was made thick enough that it was completely opaque when activated (material), but just thick enough where it could be heated and cooled quickly with safe power (electronics), to allow it to be as precise an alarm clock as possible (user experience). Beyond that, this project also represents a manifestation of our vision of Radical Atoms, where static everyday objects become dynamic reprogrammable interfaces. Unlike our common perception of computer interfaces which are fast, attention-demanding, and flat pieces of glass. HelioZZZ is a flexible and calm interface ‘disguised’ as a sleep mask. The future of computer interaction is not in having screens embedded everywhere, but in using embedded computational materials to augment everyday life. ADDED DATE: 2020-09-07 18:17:12 TEAM MEMBERS (2) : Jack Forman and Hiroshi Ishii IMAGE CREDITS: Jack Forman, 2020. PATENTS/COPYRIGHTS: Copyrights belong to Jack Forman, 2020 |
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| Visit the following page to learn more: https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/helio |
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NAME: MIT Media Lab, Tangible Media Group PROFILE: The Tangible Media Group, led by Professor Hiroshi Ishii, explores the Tangible Bits and Radical Atoms visions to seamlessly couple the dual worlds of bits and atoms. We are designing human interfaces that employ physical objects, surfaces, and spaces as tangible embodiments of digital information and processes. |
| AWARD DETAILS | |
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Heliozzz Sleep Mask by Jack Forman is Runner-up for A' Design Award in Wearable Technologies Design Category, 2020 - 2021.· Press Members: Login or Register to request an exclusive interview with Jack Forman. · Click here to register inorder to view the profile and other works by Jack Forman. |
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