Rebecca
constructed an independent study route defined by her own final
project to develop her creative ability, problem solving and
analytical skills. The major project overlapped a combination of
areas, including science, jewellery, product design and
technology, to produce medical related products to help people
mange their medication and information.
Major Project:
100% Ability
Demand
and interest in gadgets and functional objects draws people to
them irresistibly. The initial idea was to develop jewellery with
a function around a 'need', not solely responding to the idea of a
gadget or fashion, which implies throwaway toys. The proposal was;
the development of jewellery to incorporate other functions,
keeping in mind, why the wearer would want a product attached to
them and why would they want to transport it wherever they went.
To address this
Rebecca felt the need to make my main area of study 'functional
jewellery'; a challenging step on from issues of purely
wearability and aesthetics. Looking at the relationship between
the body, the wearable and the function, whether it is
technological, medical or just useful.
The
final products start with a medical or identity card that will
contain the owners medical information, only accessed by doctor or
hospital staff, they will have immediate insight to any allergies,
continuous medication, recent operations and serious illnesses that
may effect the treatment they are going to give. This will cut down
on time looking for lost notes, risks of dangerous medications to
many members of the public and more.
The
next pieces work together, one worn by the owner and the other
carried by them. It is aimed at the increasing number of public that
take regular medication. The wearable piece will discreetly vibrate
when the next medication is due, the other piece will give
information such as whether to take the medication with water or
food, how much to take and which compartment to take it from. Back
up stringencies have been added for people who forget to take the
medication still, or forget when their last medication was taken or
open the wrong compartment. These pieces also hold doctors notes for
emergencies.
The
final pieces were designed for when the technology reduces in size
and becomes cheaper and more readily available. They can currently
hold the doctors information, but to hold the electronics for the
other functions will need to wait for developments in the industry.