Sleep with AR

In order to improve the sleep quality of children affected by severe concussion, the SleepLoop research group (ETHZ and University of Zurich) developed a sleep device to be worn every evening. However, children often drop out of the therapy because they experience it as monotonous and repetitive.

AR shows place of electrodes

To improve the therapeutic application, Claudia Buck and Randy Chen have designed an app. On the one hand, it supports the children in the correct placement of the electrodes with the help of augmented reality by playfully linking the unknown - the electrodes - with a familiar device - the smartphone. On the other hand, the app also accompanies the seven-night therapy process in a child-friendly way.

... and entertains

AR is also used within the stories to give the kids an even more immersive experience. For example, they have to choose a costume to trick the big tiger or to dive into the underwater world.

Your project "Journey to Recovery" thus combines sleep therapy with captivating stories. In the course of their research, the two interaction designers narrowed down the target group to children aged 8 to 12. Methodologically adequate, they use a user-centred approach that completely convinced the jury: What Claudia Buck and Randy Chen exemplarily implement with this project could also be used for other medical therapies.

Every year, the Swiss Design Association awards prizes to the best Bachelor's theses submitted at Swiss design universities. For the sda ba award 2020 at the ZHdK, the Interaction Design, Industrial Design and Trends & Identity majors nominated a total of six projects.

Source: swiss design association / journey-to-recovery / Vimeo