THE STORY OF HANGPOD

Xolaris, Xheherazade, Rajiv and Nasrin Anushan

By Nasrin and Rajiv Anushan

The Hangpod was a personal project of passion for our family. Our older daughter developed infantile esotropia and had two surgeries before the age of two. During her recovery we explored different ways to help her exercise her eyes and develop integrated coordination. One thing that seemed particularly helpful was gently swaying side to side or back and forth. Living through a wet New Zealand winter at the time of her second surgery had its own unique challenges — so we ultimately needed to have an indoor product. But it needed to be safe and fun for her too. We tried lots of different products, but never found one that we absolutely loved. The main problems we faced were with durability and quality. When we saw how much her little sister and friends were enamoured with the idea of an indoor swing, we decided to explore building the best indoor product that we could. We wanted it to be something that would offer kids unfettered joy and comfort. After more than three years of prototyping and searching for a manufacturing partner, we finally struck magic. We uncompromisingly used the very best materials: a thick 240gm cotton fabric forms a cocoon around kids to create a floating cloud seat like no other. Our core desire was for this product to bring joy to kids everywhere and our product has been used and recommended by several sensory therapists. Unfortunately, in early 2020 we had to close Hangpod. However, we could not think of a better way for us to end this chapter, than to be able to bring some joy to children with Down syndrome and their families – so we are donating our approximately 400 units of remaining stock to the New Zealand Down Syndrome Association to be distributed to children/families across New Zealand.