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Hydration Reminder

  • Prototyping of an interactive digital electronic device

  • 4-week design sprint

  • Tools: Rhino, Arduino, 3D Printing

In this project, I prototyped a device that can monitor the user's body hydration and send a signal to remind the user to drink more water. The user action triggers feedback to update the system's reminder status.

Prompt

Sense/Input: The device is expected to monitor your body's hydration level. In this prototype, we indirectly implement this sensor by measuring the water level and the interval between water level changes.

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Emotional/Cognitive State: Humans feel thirsty if not drink water frequently. But we should drink water before feeling thirsty to keep the body hydrated. The system beeps to remind the user to drink water once in a while with an internal timer.

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Actions: After being reminded by the device, the user drinks water to lower the water level in the container, which would update the system status and pause the alert.

Techniques

Sensors
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Platforms
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Work Progress and Iterations

V1.0

Control program and wiring to:

  • detect water level with a sensor

  • display the status with a monitor

  • and feedback with a beeper.

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V2.0

  • Separate the display device and the monitor with a wireless transceiver module

  • Minimize the device size

  • 3D print the case 

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V3.0

  • Finalize the interaction program to coordinate the water level monitor and the bracelet indicator

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Demo

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Learnings

  1. Start with the end goal in mind: besides getting things to work, also consider how the prototype can achieve a more intuitive demo.

  2. Design by prototyping is not a one-way process. As the designer changes the form of the prototype, the constraints of the materials are also shaping the designer's mind.

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