Heal Tutu—A family interactive product that educates about emergency prevention

In New Orleans, music can easily be mistaken for a natural resource. But every note of every song is the product of a human being. Not only are these people often uncompensated for their work, they are often not fully understood. To fulfill its Clinton Global Initiative commitment, Insight Labs convened the second annual UX for Good event in New Orleans on behalf of these musicians.

“Who, Like Me, Is Threatened?” is a unique interactive mirror experience that serves as an introduction to Spark of Conviction: The Global Human Rights Movement at Atlanta’s Center for Civil and Human Rights (CCHR). The gateway into the gallery both literally and figuratively, it helps visitors forge an emotional connection to difficult content, leaving an impression that stays with them long after they’ve departed the museum.

The project “Everyday Sounds of Dementia” aims to research the potential of sound and soundscapes in design of technology and services for people living with dementia. Research has demonstrated the cognitive and psychological benefits of music for people with dementia. In the Everyday Sounds of Dementia project, we further expand this body of knowledge by exploring the role of everyday sounds or non-musical ordinary sounds in evoking memories and conversations to provide meaningful social activity for people with dementia and their relatives. However, most audio-based technologies are inaccessible or difficult to use for people with dementia due to cognitive and physical disabilities. This project contributes to the positive well-being and quality of life of people living with dementia, and their caregivers, by supporting day-to-day functioning in their homes, and during times of transition to higher levels of care. It uses design-research and participatory approaches to develop interactive soundscapes (collages of everyday ambient sounds ) to calm, reduce agitation, stimulate, excite and engage people living with dementia in times of anxiety, stress or boredom, and promote meaningful activity in high-risk situations. The insights of this project have resulted in the Tumbler prototype, which is an accessible sound player for people with dementia to play everyday sounds and provide meaningful sound-based activity at home.

The increasing number of cancer patients has increased the occupancy rate of hospital beds and the demand for chemotherapy. If the leakage of chemotherapy devices can be effectively controlled, the work efficiency of medical staff can be improved and the willingness of cancer patients to undergo chemotherapy can be increased.

Advances in computer vision and natural language AI continue to unlock new ways to explore the billions of images across our devices, websites, and the public domain. However, it remains difficult to express subjective concepts, such as visual tones (‘vibrant’) or moods (‘eclectic’) to current systems, where visual interpretation is shaped by culture and community and is personal to the individual.

While typically not represented by keepsakes, memories of food are some of my strongest. Last year I tried to bring a feeling of comfort back to the isolated existence I experienced in America in the midst of a global pandemic, through food and cooking. Working with spices common in my family’s recipes and incorporating them into a textile allowed me to capture the comfort of scent; just the smell of a spice can trigger fond, powerful memories and transport you to a specific place and time. As a textile designer, I used food and sensorial memories to make home almost palpable- within reach. Through the magic of fragrance, I not only wanted to invite people to experience the warmth of my kitchen, but wanted to design a fabric that they could take, easily transport and use in their own spaces to comfort themselves when they felt isolated. Woven on the Jacquard Loom, Aromatics is an amalgamation of technology and handiwork. The textile is filled with spices commonly used in my family's Indian recipes. Designed with a complex woven structure to form a transparent 3-D gauze weave, pockets are woven in to the fabric that can be filled. Aromatics was made to be hung on a wall with the intention to fill up a space with warmth and envelope it in the aroma of spices. Interactive, sensorial and comforting- This textile is the materialisation of nostalgia through food.

2015 saw a big influx of refugees coming to Finland. These refugees are still having a hard time gaining access to the labor market and other sectors of Finnish society. Startup Refugees is a non-profit voluntary network that supports refugees with employment and entrepreneurship in Finland. Their mission is to realize the immense human potential of refugees in Finland, most of which is now wasted just waiting for a decision.

Nike's training program-SPARQ Combines-are the proving ground for elite high school football players, an event where the very best attract the interest of college scouts. Based on the core athletic criteria of Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction, and Quickness, the SPARQ Combine event is where players are tested, analyzed, and ultimately for the elite few, awarded scholarships. But up until recently, the drill events were only about the numbers they could put up on a stopwatch. Nike asked us to bring SPARQ to the modern age. This year, through digital diagnostic tools, high school players now have a complete picture of their performance and a plan for improvement.

Since 2002, the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) has engaged North Carolina’s citizens, bringing people together to turn ideas into action. Experts at facilitating face-to-face communication, they wanted to extend their impact using digital tools. They envisioned an exhibit designed to educate North Carolinians about four of the state’s core concerns­–Education, Environments, Economy, and Health–and inspire and enable them to collaborate on these issues. Working with IEI and our partners, we created the Emerging Issues Commons at North Carolina State University’s Hunt Library.

Designed for portable, uninterrupted monitoring during in-hospital transport and at the bedside, IntelliVue X3 provides an intuitive smart-phone-style operation that quickly and easily enables continuous monitoring during transport for the most critical patients.