Jonathan O Toole's blog

Product research table ................

Presentation 2

Study of colour shape and finish.

Arm rests and holding ...........

Test

Study of various sitting positions.......

Position holding

walker sketch model 2 ...............

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SL370153

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Likewise with this model the child applies pressure directly onto the floor. This helps the child build muscle and balance with is very important for young children. The structure is on caster wheels to help the parents encourage the infants and easily move and control them.

Meeting with Mikael Fernström .............

Mikael Fernström is in change of the digital media department in the University of Limerick.Through our conversation today the main points to come out were that maybe projection isn't the way to go since the size of the screen is fairly small why not just use a LCD screen ( 22" around 100-150 euro). He also advised that I look into a open source programme called Pure Data (GEM). This programme allows you to make animations which can be affected by the addition of switches / sensors which can be connect with a arduino board. The product would now have sensors which are connected to an Arduino board which is connected to a netbook with Pure Data with is viewed through a 22" screen which the child views. If the child steps correctly the sensors pick this up and in turn affect the programme and images on the screen in a very positive way.

Example Of GEM.

Nice use of space...........

Noste installation, moving camera from Teemu Määttänen on Vimeo.

Towers.

Interesting projection...........

RED CHAIR, 2009 EDITION from Teemu Määttänen on Vimeo.

The red chair.

Brainstorming in Enable Ireland .................

While in Enable Ireland I conducted a quick brainstorming session and some of the main points to come out of it were:

• Target age group 12 months to 48 months.
• Three different product groups
• One from 12 months to 24 months.
• Second from 24 months to 36 months.
• Third from 36 months to 48  months.
• Insurance and risk management (CE mark & ISO standards etc).
• The product should have some accessory's for different infants.
• Cause and effect design (push a button and a light turns on).
• Jack & Jill song about moving (Music).
• A treadmill that can move backwards to help the older groups.

All of these points are very important but the most important point from the brainstorming in the need for safety. If the parent operating the product has another child if her hand slips is there anything to prevent the child falling. The need for a safety frame is now an important design consideration.

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                                  A sketch one of the Physiotherapists drew for me.

Meeting in BlackBerry Park at Enable Ireland.............

Today I visited Paul McCarty who is a Physiotherapists for Enable Ireland in BlackBerry Park Limerick.

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My meeting with him was to talk about existing products and his view on the product I was trying  to design. He told me there is no product on the market of the group of people I was aiming at. He also said I should target the age group of 1-4 year old infants as none caters for them. He thought the idea of a slow treadmill was a very good concept but that I major concern would be getting the main players on board. Basically if I want this product to be bought by the HSE and used by parents if the parents injured their infant in the treadmill the HSE would be a risk of law suit. They do have a room for all the different type of equipment they rent.

Physio and Play ????? ..........

Yesterday I visited the Mid-Western Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus clinic on the Ballysimon road. I had a meeting with a girl called Milena Morawska who is a Senior Physiotherapist. I was shown around the areas in the building and the physiotherapy room. The physiotherapy room is more like a play room with some equipment hidden around, covered in bright colours and soft padding.

 The area is very open and there's a lot of very interesting item's in it. Some of the equipment is used for older people but the play area in the corner of the room is just for the kids. This area has lots of fun toys and slides. When I came in first I thought this area would be used to rest the kids, if they finish there physio they could play but thats not the case. The play area is the physio area. This is a very interesting view. In the center picture you can see a green stairs and a red slide. The kids love to slide down the slide but to do that they must climb the steps which build muscle and helps create balance. You can also see a few large balls in the back corner of the image. These are used to create balance. The child is placed on top and the ball in moved around and the child keeps its center of gravity.Some children don't like the ball but love the ball pit so a track is created. You must balance on the ball to get the key to open the pit then you must go through the tunnel to get back to the ball. The kids are very smart they know that if they dont want to do something chances are they'll get away without doing it but through this idea of Physio and Play being the same thing more and more childs are benefiting from these interactions.