'the aid' by egle ugintaite 'FUJITSU design award 2011' grand prize

‘the aid’ by egle ugintaite

with ‘the aid’, a cane that provides mobile navigation and health management services, users who have difficulty leaving their homes can become active members of society.  this design takes into consideration how ICT devices can be useful in users’ daily lives and deploys services that are integrated with social infrastructure.

‘the aid’ by egle ugintaite from lithuania has received the FUJITSU grand prize – the winning entry from our recent designboom competition ‘a life with future computing‘, organized in collaboration with FUJITSU. and DA – design association japan.

designer’s own words ‘the aid’ is mainly dedicated to help elderly people, or people after trauma who often have a lack of confidence to step outside their house, causing isolation, depression… ‘the aid’ is designed to be a real ‘helping hand’: to guide and prevent one from being lost, providing a feeling of security, allowing one to receive immediate help if they need it, and, of course physical support, as a walking cane. an integrated navigator, which works as a service + health device (pulse, blood pressure temperature) features measuring sensors along with an SOS button, which, by pressing it when help is needed, contacts the help center and sends the user’s current health data and location to provide immediate and qualified help. the object is simple to use (2 buttons only), but at the same time smart.

1 – soft component that comes in contact with the user’s arm 2 – sensors on the interior space monitor pulse, blood pressure, body temperature 3 – on the outside of the clasp an LCD screen displays health data 4 – SOS button 5 – cancel button (if SOS button has been pressed by accident)

SOS button

navigator, SOS button, health monitoring, cane, physical assistance.

integrated sensors

there are sensors in the wrist zone, which are constantly in contact with blood vessels. the monitor displays health data (pulse, blood pressure, temperature).

a headphone is used to receive directions on how to reach all necessary info.

service scenario

jury members (from left to right): ross lovegrove, birgit lohmann of designboom, gwenael nicolas (curiosity), toshiyuki inoko, ma yansong (MAD architects) and nobuo otani, corporate senior vice resident Fujitsu, kimitaka kato, Fujitsu design president (without photo).

— those wishing to republish an excerpt of this article, please have the courtesy to link back to this original article, and to mention that the project was designed for the ‘FUJITSU design award: a life with future computing’ competition, organized by designboom in collaboration with FUJITSU. thank you.