Ideas to help the elderly from first national ‘designathon’
Photo: www.designsingapore.org
SINGAPORE — A conference “radio” that allows the elderly who reside alone to communicate with one another; an air cushion that promotes micro exercise movements to combat a sedentary lifestyle; and a smart wristband that reminds individuals with dementia of their daily tasks, such as taking medication.
These were among the winning prototypes borne out of Singapore’s inaugural national “designathon”, which focused on improving the elderly’s ageing experience and was organised by the DesignSingapore Council.
The 36-hour design marathon saw 33 teams, including students, engineers, design professionals and health-care specialists, tinker with tools such as 3D printers and laser cutters at the National Design Centre.
The goal was for them to propose design and business solutions to challenges such as loneliness, lack of mobility and aversion to technology.
Participants based their prototypes on insights from an earlier ethnography research commissioned by the council, which highlighted the key challenges the elderly here face.
The idea that emerged tops, the Radio Friend, leverages technology to enable isolated seniors to reach out to like-minded individuals in their geographical proximity to foster new relationships.
The device would be designed like an old-fashioned radio, and users can dial into a channel based on their interest and participate in a multiway chatroom-styled conversation.
A radio was chosen because the elderly were familiar with it, said team member Benjamin Ang.
“A significant proportion of the silver population here is financially able, but live alone. We hope this will provide them constant human activity and keep loneliness at bay,” he said.
Another device, which won the best prototype, aims to enhance safety for elderly individuals crossing the road. It uses a wristband and belt packed with an array of sensors that vibrate upon detecting oncoming traffic.
This was the brainchild of a diverse five-member team including a 71-year-old adjunct teacher and a hearing-impaired participant, who drew on their personal experiences in designing the prototype.
Minister of Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim, who presented awards to the seven winning teams yesterday, stressed the power of “design thinking”.
“Good design helps to improve our quality of lives,” he said. “Designers put themselves in the users’ shoes and develop the best solution to fit their needs.
“They need to have a 360-degree view of the users, empathy, creativity and rationality to design user-centred products.”
The Design 2025 Masterplan is being developed to strengthen awareness and adoption of design in various areas of the community, he said, adding that recommendations from the masterplan committee will be unveiled in the next few months.
