Nuna

Human beings are characterized by their social nature. The interaction among them enhances their personal development and further reinforces their physical, psychological, mental and emotional well-being. With the outbreak of COVID-19, people have changed their daily activities from a physical space to a virtual space. Therefore, their habits and routines have radically changed in terms of social interaction. The pandemic brought restrictions that forced individuals to remain isolated and keep physical distancing. As consequence, most people started lacking human touch. Non-verbal communication gestures, such as hugs, are crucial for maintaining and strengthening social bonds. This project aims to provide a design intervention that will help people feel close and connected to each other despite distance and cope better with the limitations of social interaction.

To address the problematic of people missing human touch and feeling disconnected, the intervention designed offers a “hugging system” as solution. It consists of 3 elements: 1.a garment with haptic technology incorporated, that belongs to the group of wearable tech. It aims to replicate the physical sensation of a hug, applying deep pressure 2. an app that controlls and collects information about the interactions and let users rate them and 3. an E-commerce website prototype for the commercial purposes.

The development of this project was not intended to replace human contact, but to reconnect people, emotionally and mentally, when being physically connected is impossible.

Name, logo and colors

Nuna is a Quechan word, that means “soul, spirit, gift”. Hugs and human gestures are good for the soul and they are also a gift. Aditionally, the name has a strong personal meaning.

The logo aims to express the concept of connection, interaction, union and closeness. It is made of circles, which refers to the idea of being holistic.

Style and material

The main color chosen for the logo is orange, a warm color. According to the psychology of color, orange is a fun, inspiring, happy, energetic and powerful tone with strong measurable physical effects on people. It increases energy levels and promotes vibrant social environments. In the context of this project, orange also represents the warmth, optimism and enthusiasm of the interactions and the emotions it provides to people.

This wearable is meant to be universal and unisex. Therefore, “normcore fashion” was used as the main concept for its style, as well as “ubiquitous technology”. Even though this product incorporates hi-technology in its function, it does not look like something too technological or futuristic. Hugs are natural and spontaneous and so must the wearable be.

This product is made of a sustainable fabric, easy to storage, wash and re use.