Jonathan K. Loeb
Research/Design/Prototyping
Coral
A fully functioning rapid prototype of a portable sensory room. It was built in one and half weeks using original designs for 3d printing and laser cutting.
In collaboration with Amanda Perez and Ticha Sethapakdi
My Role
Lead Designer
Time Frame
1 1/2 Weeks (May 2018)
Designing Coral
Background: Sensory Rooms
Sensory rooms are increasingly popular, especially for the treatment of Alzheimer's and conditions on the autism spectrum. The combination of light, sound, and touch can help calm a person in times of stress.
Coral was an attempt to rapidly fabricate and build a fully functional portable sensory room system.
The Theme
The ocean was chosen as a theme because it suggests peace and calm, while still being stimulating and delightful.
Core Interactions
The intention was for Coral to be operable using four small plastic figurines. Each figure would have copper on its base that would complete a circuit when placed on the body. The completed circuit sends a signal through a built-in Arduino to an attached computer. The computer plays a portion of the audio-visual experience. The visual element is projected onto Coral itself using a Pico projector and audio is played from external speakers.
Building Coral
The Creatures
Four sea creatures (a Flapjack Octopus, a Seahorse, a Sea Turtle, and an Angler Fish) were chosen as the figurines. These were designed in Fusion 360 and then printed in PLA plastic. White was chosen as the color of the PLA to best reflect the light display.
The Body
The body was custom designed and then fabricated using a laser cutter. The design is deep enough to hold the necessary wires and Arduino as well as a small laptop, or portable device. Again it was painted white to better reflect the light display.
The Audio-Visual Components
For the light display bubbles were chosen to fit Coral's nautical theme. They were programmed in Processing using Java. The color and location of the bubble effect varies for each figurine.
Ticha Sethapakdi composed the music for Coral. A different portion of the music plays when the creature is placed on its base. Placing all four creatures plays the entire piece.
Future Avenues
Coral functioned entirely as intended - a successful foray into rapid prototyping!
Possible future explorations would focus on testing Coral's efficacy in the real world: Specifically, does it provide the desired therapeutic effects? How can it be better designed for easy set up by the average lay person? Answering such questions could demonstrate if creating a cheap and portable alternative to sensory rooms is a possibility in the near future.
