Gratitude Device

For the final project in my Physical Computing class, I worked in a team to serve a disabled clientele group. Our unique challenge, however, was to create an assistive device for the caretaker within the group home. Our client did not have any disabilities herself; however, we talked extensively with her to design a device that would improve her life.

We noticed immediately that our client was incredibly selfless, always thinking of others and never asking for anything for herself. We also noticed that those under her care loved to provide her with drawings; however, most of them struggled to write words or form sentences. This led us to our idea of creating a device to facilitate expressions of gratitude towards our client, allowing those within the house to write her custom notes of appreciation.

We debated over the user interface for many weeks, as creating an intuitive device for a range of mental and physical abilities proved a challenge. We eventually decided that less is more, and tried to include as few buttons as possible. Our final device displays a series of pre-formed messages and images on a screen. The user can toggle between message options using a knob, and can then select and append them to a running note shown on the right half of the screen. When the user is satisfied with his/her composition, he/she can press the ‘print’ button, which releases a sheet of paper containing their personalized note. The user can then hand out or leave their gratitude note to whomever they wish, spreading some positivity within the home.

Detailed project documentation can be found here:

https://sites.google.com/andrew.cmu.edu/60-223-s25/gratitude-device-by-the-lotuses?authuser=0