ITP: Industrial Design

The project: design a light switch.

Initial Concept

The initial idea was to make a switch easy for those with restricted movement or difficulty coordinating to use. It would need to be light, durable and simple to use. The first idea for shape was circular; a large button which could be thrown around the room. For example. a button such that someone in a wheelchair could roll over it and turn the lights on and off. For material I thought of fabric. After visiting Rockwell Group, the Rockwell Brothers suggested a pneumatic switch similar to those used with hot tubs, so that is what I based my first designs on.

Model 1

I made a simple mockup with fabric. Inside the button I inserted an air pocket (ziplock bag) to get an idea of feel. First of all, the switch was way too light. It didn't have a feel of quality and would likely blow around with the wind - not ideal for a light switch.



In order to differentiate between on and off I had the idea of moon for dark and sun for light. Ozge commented she associated the moon with light and not dark. I agree; it was not the best metaphor. So I settled on black for dark (space) and yellow for sun. I decided to make the next mockup with beans so it could take a fair amount of punishment and have more weight.

Model 2




I did this model with a coated fabric, not dissimilar from vinyl. Color wise, I thought it turned out fairly well. I implemented the switching mechanism with an accelerometer and wireless radio. To display on and off I wrote a simple processing application to turn my screen from black to white.

Regretfully, the beans were the major problem with this pillow. While they gave it a nice tactile feel, the pillow was much too heavy and cumbersome to be used by someone with little strength. As to size, while I made several the pillow version worked best. Thus the birth of pillowSwitch.

Model 3




Finally, I made a pillow with feathers and went to Mood in search of aesthetically appropriate fabrics. I found a delightful cotton with a circular pattern, which illustrates the sun beautifully. For the black fabric I found a liner with sparkles, reminding me of the stars. In terms of use, I decided to place the pillow on the bed and use it as an off switch as Ameya suggested. It is light and easy to toss around. Good for pillow fights!

-- Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:30 -0400

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