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Accio

The Brief

"This project is a collaboration with the Institute for Blind and Partially Sighted – IBOS and KEA Wearables Lab, with focus on designing a piece of digital jewelry; a wearable with a technological function. Based on ethnographic research about and with the blind and partially sighted, and in particular a super-user you will be assigned, you should design a wearable that is also attractive for the sighted.

You are to design the product and make a physical prototype along with a proof of concept showcasing the function of the wearable. For this purpose you will use M5Go-bits.

The focus is on user-centered design through research methods that rely on interaction, play, empathy and social interaction.

How can the experiences of partially sighted people inspire
and lead to insights for new forms of wearables relevant for the sighted as well? Which senses come into play when one sense is limited, and what significance does it have for the design of a wearable?"

ACCIO

Based on our research with our partially sighted super user, we created Accio, providing both partially sighted and sighted people stress-relief through helping them find their misplaced belongings.

Let's dive a bit deeper into how Accio works.

This short video demonstrates how the app works.

Sounds

According to our research, many wearables and technological aides for partially sighted people have stressful and unpleasant sounds. Since Accio is about relieving the stress of not finding your most important things, it was essential for us to find relaxing, yet noticeable sounds for when you needed to call on your things. The sounds you can assign to the children are carefully selected for this purpose. Hear some examples below.

Proof of Concept and Testing

In collaboration with KEA Wearable's lab, we made a proof of concept using three M5GO IOT Kits. In the video below you can see how we demonstrated it in during the final presentation which we held for IBOS, our class at KEA and the super-users we had all been assigned.

This presentation was the final testing opportunity for our concept and it received appraisal and also very useful feedback. We made a 4-page folder presenting the product, which you can view and download below.

To learn about the research we conducted, the ideation and design process and how we used technology to create the end result, dive in to the sections below.