Translating Affordances: Breath Box
Prompt: Choose an app, game, website, interactive film, or animation and convert the digital interface into a physical one.
Partner: Blessing Emole
Concept: Breath Box is a voice-activated meditation assistant that guides users through various breathing exercises to relieve stress and promote mindfulness. It is inspired by applications like Calm, Balance, and Headspace.
Process:
We organized our process into three sections: ideation, sketching, and construction. First, we spent time discussing the features and limitations of popular meditation applications. We found that the most common features across the board were audio narration, soft color palettes, and minimalist animation. Thus, we decided to mirror those three features in our design. Breath Box would be voice-activated and feature a calming digital assistant. The interface would mimic inhale/exhale animations. And finally, the device would take advantage of light and color to produce a calming atmosphere. Ideally, it would provide information on the benefits of color therapy and allow users to choose from various colors based on their needs. For example, red light is said to help stimulate the production of Melatonin, so Breath Box could suggest using red to the user before bedtime.
Before sketching, we gathered prototyping materials such as cardboard, plastic bags, paper, and tissue paper. With these materials in mind, we began sketching various iterations of Breath Box.
Our sketches took inspiration from the physical design of digital assistants like Amazon Echo & Alexa devices and Google Home. We wanted the device to be unobtrusive, sleek, and portable. Therefore, many of our sketches feature compact rectangular bases.
After many iterations, our final design consisted of a box foundation covered in color-changing lights and an airbag that would inflate and deflate according to the breathing exercise. We would achieve the inflation/deflation using an air pump hidden in the base of the device. Additionally, to help hold the bag’s shape and add diffused light, we would place a static color light bulb inside the airbag. This design is small enough to store in a corner or hide completely. Furthermore, the lighting feature is only engaged when the user takes part in a breath exercise, so the device remains inconspicuous when not in use.
We used cardboard and a small plastic bag to construct the box foundation and airbag. We covered the box in white tissue paper to resemble a cloud and help the LED lights stand out against the base.
We had to cover the box in two to three layers of tissue paper to disguise the print on the cardboard fully. Although we could not install a fan and get the airbag mechanism working, we did a test to see if the airbag could noticeably hold and release air.
Once we finished covering the box in tissue paper and testing the airbag, we added the string lights and finalized our prototype.
Takeaways:
The process of dissecting a digital interface and converting its affordances to a physical device was fascinating. We were able to develop a design rather quickly because we spent a lot of time talking through our concept and looking for inspiration from hardware products. If we were able to create another iteration of this product, I would love to see a version that is more integrated into the architecture of the home.
