Health +
Health + is a product that was created to monitor the user’s heart rate and alert an emergency contact when the system detects a hazardous pulse. This design was created throughout UX202, the objective of the project was to create a device with the Arduino Uno that connects to the Internet of Things using the coding language C++ and correlate the design to the user’s somatic senses.
Design Problem
Create a practical, wearable device that accurately monitors heart rate and reliably alerts emergency contacts in real-time during hazardous pulse events
Our Solution:
Ideate
Somatic Senses
Product Development
Application Design
01
Ideate
After deciding on what to make for this product, low-fidelity sketches were hand-drawn to understand what would be the most feasible design for users to wear and produce an accurate pulse rate for the sensor to read. The first design looked like a glove that users could wear. However, we quickly realized that a glove is not realistic as a glove can get in the way of everyday practices.
The second iteration of the design was a bracelet that would both monitor and display the user’s pulse on their wrist. This design makes it much more reasonable for users to perform basic activities while the device remains to produce an accurate result.
02
Somatic Senses
Visual:
Health + stimulates the visual somatic sense when the LED pin lights up when detecting an abnormal heart rate, and the LCD screen continuously displays the user's pulse.
Auditory:
Health + stimulates the auditory somatic sense when a notification is received on their mobile phone from the Health + application.
Kinesthetic:
Health + stimulates the kinesthetic somatic sense when the bracelet does not interfere with the user’s daily activities.
03
Product Development
The Arduino Uno was the main component in the design that translated the code as an output. The pulse sensor would then detect the user’s heart rate by placing it either on their wrist or the fingertip. When the pulse sensor detects a heartbeat the BPM will then be displayed on the LCD screen. The system code was set to send an alert to an emergency contact if the rate either goes below 60 or above 120. The ESP8266 does this by allowing the software to connect to the IoT. There is also a light attached to the product that is also designed to light up when the heart rate goes outside the threshold to notify the user of a possible emergency.
04
Application Design
A medium-fidelity prototype was designed to present what the Health + application interface would look like. The application is outlined for users to track previous and current health records that the bracelet has captured. Users are able to contact both emergency services and notify family members from the application when they believe there is a crisis. When an abnormal pulse is detected from the bracelet the application will immediately send a notification to the user with accessible options to seek help in a dire situation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, developing Health+ taught us how to create practical, wearable technology that ensures reliable heart rate monitoring and emergency alerts. This experience in hardware-software integration and user-centered design will be invaluable for future projects, enabling us to design innovative and effective solutions.