BACKGROUND

Hackathon Structure

This was the first hackathon at Tufts University specifically dedicated to Assistive Technology. The hackathon was sponsored by Cecropia Strong, which is an organization dedicated to matching disabled folks with college and university programs to improve their functional capabilities, and matched us with Harper. There were several prompts for devices that Harper had a need for,  there was a 30 minute presentation from Harper and her mom about her likes. dislikes, and details about her condition, and then 48 hours to create your solution. One additional challenge of this hackathon was that due to Covid-19, many of the on-campus fabrication facilities were shut down or severely restricted - so my solution needed to be something that I could create in my dorm room with whatever materials I could find.

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Client

My client for this project was Harper, a 9 year old girl with a congenital spinal cord injury. She is verbal, has full mobility above her collar bone, and uses a power wheelchair for mobility. 

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In my conversations with Harper I learned that she used a traditional head pointer in school and at home to interact with her iPad or draw. However, she didn't like using this device because sometimes the classroom aids struggled to properly take it on or off, and she felt like the bulky and unattractive design made her stand out from her fellow students.

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Harper loves creating art, with drawing and painting being her favorite mediums, I wanted to create a device that would be versatile enough to accommodate multiple shapes and sizes of art supplies. Some additional information I used to inform my design is that Harper wears baseball caps everyday (for style, extra cushioning around her head, and sun protection) and her favorite color is pink.

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Goal

Create a new and improved stylus holder for Harper that met the following requirements:

• Product must steadily hold different shapes and sizes of styluses

• Product must be intuitive for classroom and home aids to use

• Product must be comfortable to wear for long periods of time

• Product must be unobtrusive and mesh with the user's lifestyle