BUDDIES

My personal project | 2 Month March.2022-May.2022

BUDDIES is a set of conceptual devices to address the issues of separation anxiety in dogs as well as single-person households' concerns about their dogs. The interactive system helps pet owners and pets stay connected during physical separation.

The Context

According to the big data and city map showing the dog density, a large population residents in NYC have dogs. Also, Researches show dogs live in their own natural habitat with their own time with a pack of dogs. Since their natural tendency is wherever owner goes, they follow. So the covid-19 has brought togetherness which for dog is natural. But people have got to work or even other stuffs to do (like the business trip, travel etc.) They might go into a kind of separation anxiety because of long time period of natural lifestyle disappear.

User Interview

I interviewed 2 new yorkers who have experiences to become a sitter and boarding their pets. They all prefer offer and seek help in neighborhoods. There's a lot of uncertainty in Coco's story since the dog she sitted probably suffering from separation anxiety.

Define Users’ need

Synthesizing these data and previous research, I produced Journey maps, persona, etc. to identify our users and find out their problems and needs

My research did reveal four pain points that help me to find design directions.

Design Goals

In this project

After my research and synthesis, I realized that I needed to narrow down the scope and reframe the problem.

I'd like to address the issues of separation anxiety in dogs as well as single-person households' concerns about their dogs. My intervention in New York City will involve the development of an interactive physical device to help pet owners stay connected to their pets during physical separation.

The separation can be peace, love, calmness, and intimacy.

Ideation

During the ideation process I used different ways to identity the shape (the base shape is the intersection of 9 circles) and I also try to use rhino and grasshopper to make different shapes to simulate the feeling of breath and heart beats as well as movement. My design included collar, clothes for dog, handheld and wearable devices.

Interactive Process

BUDDIES enable emotional bonding between the dog owner and their dogs during physical separation. The system consists of a wearable device for dogs as well as a touchable device for humans. Movement, breath, and heartbeat signals from the dog are sent over the internet to a handheld, which then conveys the information to the owner via haptic actuators. Additionally, dog owners can speak to their dogs at any time by pressing, tapping, or even speaking to them.

Final Design Outcomes

The flexible handheld is made of medical-grade silicone, which is translucent. A soft board contains the necessary electronics that are distributed throughout the product so that it can breathe easily and can be reused indefinitely. On each handheld, six actuators physically press the user's body part in different ways to convey movement.

PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION--HANDHELD

STRUCTURE DIAGRAM--HANDHELD

PHYSICAL MODELS AND PROTOTYPES-- HANDHELD

Final prototypes are cast in silicon rubber using 3D-printed molds. I designed the form to be comfortable, flexible, and organic. My experiments involved mixing different color dyes to create different color models, putting them on different parts of the body (both human and dog), and observing how it feels and looks. Further prototypes are also based on 3D printing for the ergonomic tests.

Another product in the system is a dog collar with heart rate and respiration sensors to collect information and provide feedback through the back part.

TECHNICAL DRAWING AND PHYSICAL PROTOTYPE