Abstract

Over the last couple of years I have had the unfortunate experience of helping a loved one through multiple hospital stays. Anyone who has ever been in a hospital knows it’s not the most pleasant experience one can have. These experiences have lead me to the question of, how do I create a space to optimize and inspire the body, mind, and emotional centers to heal and engage support and community? By using empathy I can create solutions for the most extreme patients and use those solutions for other patients and other situations.

Through interviews with ICU patients, nurses and doctors, a reoccurring theme clearly developed; fear, isolation and lack of communication. When a person is experiencing these emotions an optimal healing environment is not possible. What if we could create a healing space that could monitor a person’s mood and general well being? By monitoring mood and having alternative way’s to communicate we would create an environment that could potentially have faster healing times, lower amounts of medication usage and a happier work environment. It’s time to bring humanity back to healthcare. Healthcare needs to concentrate on more then just the physical; it should include the mental and the emotional as well. We need all three to line up in order to heal.

I have invented a Healing Space to help accomplish an optimum healing environment. The first device to come out of it is Wave, a brain computer interface designed to use EEG technology along with biofeedback. This device will change the relationship between, doctors, patients and nurses by giving them a way to communicate and to talk about mental states.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Brain-computer interfaces--Design; Electroencephalography--Data processing; Biofeedback training; Healing--Psychological aspects; Evidence-based design

Publication Date

11-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Industrial Design (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

School of Design (CIAS)

Advisor

Stan Rickel

Advisor/Committee Member

Alex Lobos

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

IDDE-MFA

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