Figitool
Designing a collection of multi-sensorial fidget tools - an exploration in texture and sound. This project is a work in progress.
Conceptualizing, Prototyping, Visual Design
The pandemic has had a devastating impact on mental health. The global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%, according to a scientific brief released by the World Health Organization (WHO). As the world is opening up it can be difficult to reenter the pre-pandemic non-virtual routine. Fidget tools have been proven to help with stress and anxiety in short term. Listening to soothing sounds is also linked to stress and anxiety relief. I wanted to explore the combination of the two to examine if it can have a larger influence for a short-term solution.
This project seeks to provide a short term stress and anxiety relief tool. This is a non-clinical tool. The ultimate goal is to design two sets of tools. One, an elaborate texture boards to use at home or in private spaces. Other, handheld tools which can be carried easily and used in any public, professional or educational space.
The initial prototypes include three texture boards - sequins, a mini zen garden and kinetic sand. Different interactions on the boards are linked to different sounds. The sound interaction is possible through Force Sensing Resistors programed using Wekinator with Arduino.
The sounds are currently the ones available on Wekinator but the next step is to the sound design using Ableton Live. I mapped out movements on the prototype texture boards to understand the possible interactions; which would also inform the sound design.
Material studies to lay out different textures and movements people found satisfying and stress relieving.