THE CHALLENGE
Help people with Post Concussion Syndrome navigate public spaces.
Context
After a concussion, enduring symptoms known as post-concussion syndrome (PCS) can last for weeks and even years - causing hyper-sensitivity to a variety of external stimuli.
People who suffer from PCS can have difficulty navigating public transportation, where demanding and often unavoidable auditory environments threaten to trigger residual symptoms.
Post Concussion Syndrome makes public spaces
feel like hostile environments.
The problem with trains.
After speaking with sufferers, neuropsychologists, and social workers, I decided to focus my research around public transportation. These environments have several qualities that make them uniquely challenging to people with PCS.
1
Highly stimulating
Bus and train stations are busy, loud, and fast-paced spaces that are hyper-saturated with auditory and visual stimuli.
2
Demand attention
Interpreting cues from a variety of auditory and visual sources is essential for navigating these systems.
3
Often unavoidable
Those who rely on public transportation don't have the option to avoid these spaces, which they're advised to do.
CONCEPT
Interrupt salient stimuli, and translate information into a less cognitively demanding physical language.
Headphones
INTERFEARENCE
Noise-canceling headphones interrupt incoming auditory stimuli and send information to the garment.
Arduino
FEEDBACK
The garment translates info into haptic feedback. This is achieved with an Arduino in the prototype.
Felt + Quilt
INTERFACE
Feedback is communicated through soft, heavy materials which also provide weighted blanket therapy, a technique used to appease children with autism.
Categorical
Delineates between speech, tonal, and a-tonal sounds.
Spectral
Communicates a stimulus’ value along a spectrum.
Neutralizing
Evens the peaks, troughs, and abrupt changes in the environment.
