Dezeen School Shows: a device that alleviates motion sickness and an item resembling a video game controller that helps children concentrate on school work are featured in Dezeen's latest school show by students at Brunel University.
Also included are a piece of kit designed to notify users when fruit needs to be eaten to avoid it going to waste, as well as a gadget that uses increased heart rate to passively record video clips without the distraction of manually using a camera.
Brunel University
Institution: Brunel University
School: Brunel Design School
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology, BSc Product Design and BSc Product Design Engineering
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon, Rob Eris and Tom Higgs
School statement:
"Students in the Brunel Design School study a range of modules in their final year to enhance their creative, user-centred and technical abilities.
"Their journey through the course allows them to become empathetic designers who weave creative thinking with technology, confident in framing problems and defining design opportunities.
"Many of the modules have a technical element, encouraging students to consider how the design could be practically realised.
"However, one of our final year modules allows students to propose a vision for the future – it's called Advanced Design Innovation.
"This module allows students to create a range of innovative design proposals aimed at addressing some of the social issues, aspirations or trends predicted over the next ten to 15 years. Once a problem has been identified, students will research an existing brand and carry out an analysis of the brand values.
"Working as a team, they propose a design innovation strategy for their selected brand and create a set of product concepts that respond to the design opportunity. The outcome of this creative, academic project is a professionally written and presented executive report, high quality conceptual models and user interaction analysis.
"The brand re-position concepts are purely for academic purposes and are only being used in the context of design education. They are not for commercial gain nor represent the views of the brands or companies. We hope you find them interesting, thought provoking and inspiring.
"On the Design Process and Research module, year one students had the opportunity to work on a live project in collaboration with Habitat.
"The project began with a research trip to the V&A Museum exploring mechanisms and colour, material, finish properties of historical objects and documenting them through drawing.
"Informed by their research from the V&A, the brief then asked the students to develop either a task light or ambient mood light, reinterpreting their research in a contemporary way, while tailoring their lighting design to fit the brand ethos of Habitat."
The ND-300WL by Alexandra Liu
"The ND-300WL is a nausea-preventing device for those who live in floating homes. Water living and floating communities are flexible and can rise with the water level, meaning risk from flooding due to rising sea levels is reduced.
"A monitoring earpiece tracks the user's nausea parameters. When nausea surfaces, the device directly applies Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) to ease feelings of sickness.
"The physical appearance of the device takes cues from product design brand Casio."
Student: Alexandra Liu
Course: BSc Product Design Engineering – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: alexandraliu.22[at]outlook.com
Seo by Arthur Donn
"Seo is a small device that lives within the fruit bowl to supplement storage, extend shelf-life and communicate when fruit is degrading.
"Fresh fruit is important as part of a healthy diet, however the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates waste among fruit and vegetables are the highest across all food types.
"The value offered to the user is improved management of fruit around users' day-to-day schedules, promoting responsible consumption.
"This is achieved through communicating shelf-life status using coloured lighting, and prolonging shelf-life through ethylene gas absorption, using a replaceable zeolite and titanium oxide filter."
Student: Arthur Donn
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: arthurdonn60[at]gmail.com
Minne by Jemma Queenborough
"One in three of us keep 'meaningful possessions' in our homes to trigger memories, foster belonging and embody our identities, which are lost on parting with them.
"In 2030, climate migrants are predicted to move long distances to create new homes in new dense communities without their meaningful possessions.
"Minne is an immersive 3D volumetric displayer that projects 'Digital Twins' of lost meaningful possessions to retain identity, belonging and memory, strengthened by appropriate or captured scent and sound."
Student: Jemma Queenborough
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: jemmajqueenborough[at]gmail.com
GAM-0 by Markella Viagkini
"GAM-0 aims to reduce screen time among Key Stage 2 children in order to improve their academic performance.
"The device is inspired by Nintendo's products and resembles the shape of a console.
"The child's phone or tablet is placed on the groove and deactivated for a chosen amount of time while the kid concentrates on their homework, meanwhile the wireless earbuds play white noise to help isolate the child from distractions.
"After the timer runs out the child is rewarded with a short gaming session."
Student: Markella Viagkini
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: markella.viagini[at]gmail.com
BlackBerry Surround by Thomas Ledsome
"BlackBerry Surround focuses on improving productivity within the hybrid work environment by tackling overstimulation.
"It utilises Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) combined with Dolby Atmos technology to project a sound-dampened area surrounding the user with distractions removed.
"Accompanying this are non-disruptive, low frequency sound notifications as well as noise isolation to amplify natural sounds, reducing stress and improving focus.
"People are becoming overstimulated more often due to increases in screen time, more notifications and a higher number of distractions to the extent that throughout 2022, 21 per cent of hybrid workers struggled to focus when working from home."
Student: Thomas Ledsome
Course: BSc Product Design Engineering – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: thomas.ledsome[at]ntlworld.com
BluGold Task Light by Abinaya Sripathy
"BluGold Task Light is luxury task lamp that combines high quality materials with contrasting aesthetics.
"Intricate engravings on the lamps are inspired by objects in the V&A museum. The V&A contains delicate designs with a high amount of detail – I wanted to incorporate these within my lamp design.
"Taking inspiration from the archetype angle poise I designed a more modern version."
Student: Abinaya Sripathy
Course: BSc Product Design Engineering – Design Process and Research (Level 1)
Tutor: Tom Higgs
Email: abinayasripathy[at]gmail.com
Habitat Viridis Light by Jack Fisher
"Habitat Viridis is a collection of planters that help to improve ambience for people working from home.
"More than eight in ten workers who had to work from home during the Coronavirus pandemic said they planned to continue to hybrid work. Some feel like there is no longer a division between work and home.
"Both lighting and plants play a similar role in improving the mood and ambience of a space – this product brings both elements together.
"It comes with an integrated RGB LED strip light along the rim of the product which illuminates both the environment and the chosen contents.
"It is a platform for expression, a product that can be adapted and moulded to suit any personal choice and environment."
Student: Jack Fisher
Course: BA Industrial Design
Tutor: Tom Higgs
Email: jacktfisher76[at]gmail.com
Tilt by Louis Byrne
"Tilt is a task lamp that aims to create the ideal work environment in any room through the easy adjustments in brightness, colour temperature and position, helping people concentrate and feel comfortable when working from home.
"Whether a student or an office worker, people all have favourite environments and areas to work and spend time in.
"Powered by the mains, the lamp is controlled with the textured dials down the centre body, with a window showing visually the current setting for a more intuitive experience.
"The product is lit by an array of led lights in two separate colour temperatures and shielded with a translucent layer to diffuse the light."
Student: Louis Byrne
Course: BSc Product Design Engineering – Design Process and Research (Level 1)
Tutor: Tom Higgs
Email: louiswb19[at]gmail.com
Tik Tok Portal by Benedict Hughes
"Meet Portal, the self-led learning experience device that can transport the user everywhere, from anywhere.
"Using a combination of projectors, LiDar sensors and face tracking, Portal shines projections onto any surface, creating a seamless wrap-around immersive experience from the user's perspective.
"In a world where engagement with education is dwindling, no thanks to the incredible (and addictive) tools students have in their pockets, teaching needs to catch up by utilising emerging technology to boost student engagement."
Student: Benedict Hughes
Course: BA Industrial Design and Technology – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: benhughesy[at]gmail.com
Bumble Ocillus by Maximillian Younossi
"Bumble Ocillus helps users to capture the good times without even knowing. The device records your happiest memories, allowing you to stay in the moment and keep your experiences real.
"As we journey into an ever digital world, we often miss what's going on around us, too concerned with recording it rather than living it. "Pulling out your phone to film a good time can lead to a disconnect, taking you out of the very moment you want to remember and making it feel disingenuous.
"The Bumble Ocillus uses internal microphones to detect your heartbeat and translate your pulse patterns into moods.
"When you are happy, the device records the moment and automatically saves it to the Bumble app to review later as a video or in 3D virtual reality, helping you to remember good times that would have otherwise been forgotten."
Student: Maximillian Younossi
Course: BSc Product Design – Advanced Design Innovation
Tutors: Steve McGonigal, Steve Kingdon and Rob Eris
Email: maxyounossi[at]gmail.com
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Brunel University. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.