Illuland

Type: Design Project in Studio: Iterating with Intention at MADE, Brown University

Time: Oct 2021 - Dec 2021

Role: Techinal Artist, Designer

Problem Space

“When we went to the hospital, we heard other children crying... My kid cried when she heard that, even before she get the shot.”

— Sally (32), interviewee

             Taking children to get shot was always a frustration for parents. The problem arises more when everyone has to get Covid vaccines now. The project aims to help both children and parents get through these painful moments by distracting children and better understanding why they have to take vaccines.

“Distraction from pain, rather than awareness of it, has been shown to be beneficial for coping with pain. On the other hand...body awareness can take the form of a mindful, non-evaluative awareness of subtle body cues or sensations of discomfort and pain without overreacting to them. ”

— Cramer H, Lauche R, Daubenmier J, Mehling W, Büssing A, et al. (2018) Being aware of the painful body: Validation of the German Body Awareness Questionnaire and Body Responsiveness Questionnaire in patients with chronic pain.

             Based on the research, we figured that aside from distraction, body awareness, which is an attentional focus on and understanding of internal body sensations, can also help people reduce their discomfort and pain. So we designed the Illuland, the AR mirror system that includes different animation content to help children get through those frustrating circumstances.

             Using the mirror as a medium, Illuland will provide different experiences to children, supporting their needs in varied circumstances. Take vaccine injection as an example; Illuland will use gesture detection in the waiting room, letting children interact with it and become familiar with the system. Then the mirror will scan the images on the bandage when children are taking the shot, distracting them from pain. Finally, when they finish, they can ask the mirror questions using voice command to understand what happens in their body after they take the shot.

Prototype building

• Character Design

1. Based on a population-oriented and product-oriented application scenario (taking vaccines), I designed two characters, B cell and T cell, for the testing prototype.

2. The cells are presented in the form of rabbits that match the product's image (Fantasy, Cute, Wonderland). At the same time, the cells are designed as warriors and sorcerers respectively, implying the behavior of the two cells in our body.

• Digital Content Making