Systems Design
User Experience
Prototyping
- A moonshot solution to tackle workplace stress and anxiety using IOT, biometrics and sympathetic environments. The project won a Desire Award and was featured in the Evening Standard
How it Works
Embla is a business proposition for a multifaceted system that uses near future technology to allow office workers to better manage their non-productive stress. It also provides employers with a useful tool to monitor their employees wellbeing within the constraints of data protection and ethical concerns. We proposed the use of "sympathetic environments"- using IOT technology to modulate outputs such as temperature, light, scent, reprogramming of the circadian rhythm and sound according to a user's profile built up from individual biometric data gathered through a wearable. We conducted extensive research and testing to validate our ideas.
As a futures project, we examined technological and social trends and analysed weak signals relating to future working environments and the changing attitudes towards mental health, personal data protection and human augmentation.
My Contribution
- I designed and built a scale testing environment with IOT enabled temperature control, scent diffusion, lighting and a projection system
- I prototyped a bluetooth enabled "works-like" wearable that tracked heart rate and skin conductance
- I designed and built a "looks-like" wearable prototype and a mini office for visualisation purposes
- I conducted controlled stress tests on volunteers to validate our concepts
- I directed, filmed and edited a concept video outlining the issues we aimed to address. Available to watch here.
