NAVIGATIONAL FLOORING
Virtual Haptic Flooring Product Concept Details
Aesthetic Top Layer
Layer of NFC Tags Piezo Harvesters, Central Processor and Connectors
Semi-Flexible Base
How Would it Work? The intent of this concept was to create a ‘smart’ floor system that was a very flexible and capable sensing and communicating arrangement. Using this broadly capable interface as a platform many services and products could be developed to interact with and serve people of all abilities. This concept if realised would be highly universal as a solution because services or ‘apps’ could be developed to provide all sorts of information and services. To demonstrate how this approach could work consider the following case studies.
Person with Visual Impairment The floor could be set up to interact with a guide cane that had a NFC reader in its tip and a small vibrating element in the handle. ‘Virtual’ tactile paths could be set up by programming NFC array to trigger the canes vibrating response to certain areas of the floor. These vibrating responses could be more complex than the ‘physical’ tactile paths as the vibrations would be detected by the users hand. Person with no Visual Impairment The floor could be set up to provide people with no visual impairment, or minor visual impairments, a simple source of way-finding guidance via their smart phones. This would be of particular use for people who don’t speak the predominant language. This type of interface would also help businesses and services in big spaces to be easily and consistently found.
The intent of this product concept is to do away with ‘physical’ haptic or tactile interfaces completely. Replacing it with a purely electronic/digital interface utilising passive short range sensors like Near Field Communication (NFC) tags. Each floor element would have an array of NFC tags, a small central processing chip and other sensors as necessary. Each element would be connected to the neighbouring element forming a large floor network. Using this network arrangement the whole floor system could power itself via the four piezo electric power harvesters in the corners. I envisage the product being constructed in four layers: 1. An aesthetic upper layer that could be made from a large number of different flooring materials. 2. A layer of NFC tags, some set and some programmable. 3. Central controller chip, sensors, piezo electric harvesters and connections. 4. A semi flexible, perhaps recycled rubber or plastic, insulator base. Semi flexible to allow the small movements necessary to actuate the piezo harvesters.
HDID692 INDUSTRIAL DESIGN STUDIO 1 - UNIVERSAL DESIGN CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT FOLIO DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036
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Trio of Concepts