Children struggle to identify, regulate, and verbalize their own emotions, which makes it difficult for them to get the proper care they need. Left unchecked their problems may continue to manifest and hinder their overall growth and development. Unresolved problems in childhood are often a huge source of strife that may carry on well into adulthood and beyond.
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For this project I took on the role of service designer and industrial designer
My Teammates: Lexi Gevisenheit, Emily Lee, Zeeyad Khan
WonderBudi was created in a 20 week design sprint using the double diamond framework.
Throughout the discovery phase we compiled extensive secondary research to determine a problem space, narrowed down a target audience, and established an impactful subject. We found individuals within the realm of the topic in order to provide us with meaningful data to help us move forward.
In our design phase we moved into ideation and generating concepts. Through our research we created HMW statements, derived insights, and explored solutions that were most realistic to solving the scope of the problem. Based on the exploration we then developed an ecosystem that addressed the problem area, and takes into consideration real world constraints such as the feasibility of intrigrating our products into a dynamic range of school environments.
The face screen is an iPad, the main stomach screen is a 19-inch TV, and both will be attached to an armature made of wood and PVC pipe. This armature provides a sturdy internal structure to hold all the electronic components. The armature is covered in pink foam and spray foam and then carved down to create smooth and inviting curves. Doing this allows the industrial designer have practice and accurate control of the form. These techniques are often used in technical theatre to produce lightweight and cost efficent props. The foam is covered in Bondo and sanded down. The Bondo creates a strong layer of protection around the foam and creates a surface that can be spray-painted onto, the chemical that pressurized the spray paint is crossing to foam. The now smooth Bondo-covered foam will be painted with high gloss paint and covered in an automotive lacquered to give it a reflective high gloss shine.
WonderBudi is a social robot that uses play therapy techniques to help children 5-12 years old, identify and verbalize their emotions. It doubles as a therapy screener for school counselors and an alternative to detention. The child's emotional state is tracked though a screenless wearable device which monitors heart rate, oxygen levels, and skin temperature.
BudiBand. We designed a wristband device with sensors within it that will monitor each child’s biometrics. After an onboarding process to record each individual’s baseline, the Budi Bracelet will notify teachers, counselors, and parents when a child is experiencing distress. The Budi Bands will be screenless to eliminate distractions.
WonderBudi. When the Budi Band notifies the teacher that a student is experiencing distress, shows visible signs of negative emotions, or is misbehaving in class, they may be asked to go to see WonderBudi in an isolated designated room. Here they will choose an activity to do in order to help them unwind.
Parent App. Parents can view each individual recorded biometric of their children in real-time, receive alerts when stress conditions are found, the content and activities they are doing with their WonderBudi time, as well as the counselor’s notes made after their sessions with a child.
