Project overview
People worry about their loved ones all the time and it’s natural to want to check up on them. What if there was a way to communicate to those closest to you that you were home safe?
Based on my own experiences, my goal was to create a quick and easy way for each of my family members to quickly check who was home instead of playing phone tag.
Skills
Sketching, ceramic mold making, 3D design
Duration
Nov. 2016 - Dec. 2016
Final designs
Background
This was a final project I worked on in a multidisciplinary class, exploring the intersection of ceramics with industrial design. The project encouraged us to explore ways to create an object that combines mold-making with 3D printing, relating to any of our interests.
At the time, my parents were moving out of the country and I knew they were concerned about leaving myself and my brother behind. We all had fluctuating schedules and the big time difference led to a lot of missed calls when they thought we were home. I wanted to create something that would indicate when we’re each home safe.
Sketching
Inspiration and sketches
I wanted to create something that would look good in the home and integrated seamlessly with regular routines. I initially looked towards speakers to play with the idea of triggering a motion once you get home to emit music for the other family members. I also looked for more minimalist designs to fit my family’s preference.
Eventually, I ended up with the idea of creating a base for keychains, since the first thing we do when we get home is to place our keys in a designated area. I initially sketched keychains that represented an object for each member of my family, but it didn’t quite hit the minimalist feel I wanted. I received feedback from my classmates that the idea was great, but the keychains looked similar to Fisher-Price toys.
Final iteration, mold-making, and 3D Printing
During the feedback, a comment that stuck with me was that the keychains looked like puzzle pieces. This led me on a new iteration of sketches that incorporated our Korean names into a final “piece” of the puzzle. I landed on a final design where our last name acted as the base for the keychains, with each of our names making up the whole picture.
Once I had the final design ready, I sculpted the clay model of the base which would later become the mold. I also used Rhino to create the renderings for each of the keychains.
Final concept
The vision
I worked with switches and magnets to trigger lights that would illuminate the section a keychain was placed. I demonstrated how it would work through a storyboard (with pictures featuring my parents, who were kind enough to take photos based on the sketches I sent them).
When I showed my family the final concept, they loved the idea and wanted one to hang in their homes right away. My parents were especially excited about the idea of knowing if we were home with a quick glance.
Evolving the idea
While this was a bit of a passion project for me, I did really like the idea of a personalized base that families can incorporate into their homes. It’s an idea I would like to build on in the future with explorations around different materials and integrations. From a simple hook base, to a highly customized one; incorporating music or voice notes; and bringing in phone notifications for immediate peace of mind.
