GroupProposal:Innoventions

From IEOR 170 Spring 2007

Project Proposal and Brainstorming

Group A: Innoventions

Team Members

Urvashi Gupta

Monica Tanza

Hong How Quek

Raymond Kim

Nicolas Suryono

Brainstorming

Visually impaired students find it hard to navigate

Trails made of different bumps going to different places

Personalized GPS with verbal instructions

Noisy libraries

noise canceling headphones

sound-proof single-person study cubicles

better defined talking zones

Long lines at DCs

Disney type Fastpass - limited # of fastpass issued per month, up to user on how to use

Staggered meal timings for different units/ buildings

Charge less points for coming outside peak periods

Transporting Books

Lockers on campus by dept that can be purchased

Wireless books/lessons on palm pilot issued to every student

More reserve copies in libraries

Dept has mini library of course books

Flyering

Better online communities

Digital display boards at Sather Gate and North Gate

Unpredictable bus schedules

Digital board that updates/refreshes bus arrival times

GPS on buses/ you can send a search via SMS that informs user of location and arrival time of individual buses

Rainy Days on Campus

Golf carts for students

Complementary Ponchos/raincoats

Underground walkways

Sheltered Walkways connecting buildings on campus

Fire alarms easily getting set off (esp. in dorms)

Only get activated by fire

Takes a picture of user who pulls it off (prevent false alarm)

Grocery shopping list

GPS reminds you of groceries to shop for when you pass by Safeway, Home depot etc.

Online shoping list that can be printed at individual supermarts

Sensors in your actual kitchen so that u know things are missing

RFID tagging for everything, walk out with cart

Second Hand Smoke

Smokers in bubbles

Filter the smoke that comes out

“Smokeless” cigarettes

Fruity cigarettes

Limestone capsules at the tip to remove CO

Waking up in the morning

vibrating beds

Chinese water torture or some form of water

Timed alarm clocks according to users REM cycles

Room heats up

Blankets rolls up automatically

Automated heating/cooling pads**

Bed tilts user out

Stolen bikes

A “bike-center” at each building; bikes with everyone can use

Bike cage (like valet parking)

Unanswered calls

Automated messages (e.g. phone tracks location and sends user location to user who calls)

Problem Description

The problem we seek to address is one that everyone faces on a daily basis: waking up on time. Current solutions on the market today are mostly traditional alarm clocks that simply play a tune at a user-specified time. While this accomplishes the task of alerting a user at a certain time, it never seems to do so in a peaceful manner and in many cases, its alert is ignored altogether. Thus the full problem we are trying to address is to wake users on time and in a peaceful manner. The motivation for solving this problem was originally to assist college students to wake up on time for classes and exams after long nights of study or partying. Intuitively however, this problem is applicable to anybody who needs to wake up at a certain time, whether it be working parents or elementary school students.

Problem Context

Through a simple discussion of the topic of sleep one can see that there are a wide array of factors that influence the process. As a result, we have attempted to identify and address the various factors that could possibly induce one to wake up besides the traditional medium of sound. For instance, many of us have noticed that we often wake up without an alarm simply due the sunlight shining through our windows. Although our eyes are closed, we are still able to sense the light coming in, leaving the interesting possibility of having some sort of visual stimulus act as an alarm. Similar senses such as touch can also possibly be alerted through the use of gentle vibrations. Other factors to consider while attempting to solve this problem are the common physical surroundings found in one’s sleep such as a bed and a pillow. Somehow incorporating these items into the solution is quite possible and even encouraged since they are readily available. The point to remember is that the method of alerting the user must be in a peaceful manner or else our solution will be synonymous to that of a traditional alarm clock.

Target Users

We identified our primary user group to be Cal students as they are the ones who we feel will get a lot of benefit out of using this product. Students often do not have a regular sleep cycle due to various on and off campus commitments and also because they have to balance a social life along with school work. Parties and hanging out with friends often mean students have erratic sleeping times, which can cause a problem when they have to wake up early the next day for classes, to turn in assignments and even the occasional quiz or midterm. Hence our product has been designed to help these students still meet their commitments.

In addition, our product will be very beneficial to the community as a whole as well as many other people can use it. Other target user groups are working professionals, people who work graveyard shifts like doctors, nurses, policemen, firefighters and a whole plethora of others. Working professionals and people who work in graveyard shifts need to be on time when coming to work or to meetings and they will certainly appreciate a device to help them wake up at the relatively odd hours.

Why Project Meets Design Theme

The relevance of the user groups we are looking to is one of the reasons why I believe our project meets the design theme very well. We are looking for a “Persuasive Design for Campus, City and Community” and I feel that this solution addresses all three. Of course, our primary user group is the students, who are what make up a campus and all the activities on it. If we can just have our students being more responsible by being punctual for their commitments, it would undoubtedly make the campus a much more functional and effective environment to be in over all. Additionally, we realized the need to wake up early is an issue not just for students on campus but for many people, including all the working professionals in a city and any community. It will help all these people to be tardy and this will improve the way our community and city works. Everything would be done more efficiently if people could just be on time for appointments and meetings and this would ensure the smoother functioning of offices, homes and any other institutions.

Solution Sketch

A solution we propose is to introduce time-controlled heating/cooling pads under the bed sheets (see figure above). These pads get gradually heated up or cooled down, until they reach a user-defined temperature that provides sufficient discomfort to wake the user up at his desired time. For example, the user sets his pads to heat up to 35°C at 7 the next morning. The pads will gradually increase in temperature from 6.30 a.m. onwards until it hits a 35°C high at 7 a.m. This gradual heating process will prevent unnecessary shock and discomfort that comes with an otherwise abrupt jolt in temperature. It is also a safety feature, so that the pads will not heat overheat too rapidly and cause burns if users accidentally set temperatures that are too high. With temperature controls, these pads have a high degree of customization to suit individual needs, which is very important since people have different thresholds and preferences for heat and cold.