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National College of Art & Design (NCAD)
Virtual Liberties
Virtual Liberties represents the physical location of the National College of Art and Design, set in one of the most historically rich parts of Dublin. The independent and strong willed traditions of this area shape the forward thinking nature of our design studio culture. While now scattered across Ireland, we come together as a group of Product and Interaction designers to virtually express the freedom and innovation that we still feel as a group. Location shaped our experience and now together though apart, we present to you, our Virtual Liberties.
Thanks to: Sam Russell
Participating Students
- Alan Coelman
- Alex Hennessy
- Amy Kelly
- Ciarán Corrigan
- David Boucher
- Diarmuid Farrell
- Ellen Marie Malone
- Huu Quang Anh Nguyen
- Jack Canavan
- Joe Fahy
- Jonathan Theobald
- Keith Fitzsimons
- Kipras 'Kippy' Pasakinskas
- Kirsten Whelan
- Linas Staniukynas
- Reinaldo Bonet
- Róisín Maher
- Rory Maguire
- Sabhín O'Sullivan
- Sarah Doyle
- Sinéad Tighe
Alan Coelman
I'm interested in the impact design can have when it challenges human behaviour that is driven by tradition, education or social values. My projects tend to examine long accepted views or norms and invite people to interact with the world in a more reflective manner.
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Alan Coelman
I'm interested in the impact design can have when it challenges human behaviour that is driven by tradition, education or social values. My projects tend to examine long accepted views or norms and invite people to interact with the world in a more reflective manner.
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Alex Hennessy
I've always been curious about interactions between people and objects. Questions such as How do they use it? Will it work? and How do they feel about it? are always on my mind. With this I enjoy building a narrative while developing my solutions. A solution isn't limited to one method so I enjoy exploring the alternatives that might seem a bit different, Algae2Go is based on this.
Health and well-being is widely known to be important but is often forgotten about, my goal is to assist in the reminder of healthy habits while not interfering with the daily routine. Spirulina is the top super-food providing all we need in terms of nutrition, growing it fresh eliminates many concerns over taste and has a higher potency. Algae2Go removes the learning curve when tending to a culture while providing a daily dose of Spirulina to the user without delay.
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Hero
Algae2Go within kitchen context
How it Works
Features involved in the process of harvesting and growing the culture
Operation
It is quick and easy to use Algae2Go even under time pressure
Unboxing
It is packaged in an organised fashion so the user understands the different components as they remove them.
UI
The product offers different modes to accommodate the growth of the culture under different circumstances
Alex Hennessy
I've always been curious about interactions between people and objects. Questions such as How do they use it? Will it work? and How do they feel about it? are always on my mind. With this I enjoy building a narrative while developing my solutions. A solution isn't limited to one method so I enjoy exploring the alternatives that might seem a bit different, Algae2Go is based on this.
Health and well-being is widely known to be important but is often forgotten about, my goal is to assist in the reminder of healthy habits while not interfering with the daily routine. Spirulina is the top super-food providing all we need in terms of nutrition, growing it fresh eliminates many concerns over taste and has a higher potency. Algae2Go removes the learning curve when tending to a culture while providing a daily dose of Spirulina to the user without delay.
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Amy Kelly
LAOCH POD IS A COMPACT PHYSIOTHERAPY EQIPMENT PIECE THAT PATIENTS/USERS CAN HAVE TO TRAIN THEIR BODIES AFTER A DIAGNOSIS OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS WITHIN THE COMFORT OF THEIR OWN HOMES ESPECIALLY NOW IN A PANDEMIC THAT PHYSIOTHERAPY IS BEING TaUGHT REMOTELY, I DESIGNED THIS AFTER MY FAMILY PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED A ms DIAGNOSIS.
THERE ARE THREE MAJOR PARTS TO MY PRODUCT THE MAIN BODY WHEN THE WHEEL IS DETACHED CAN BE USED AS A SQUAT/JUMP BOX THEN WHEN THE LID IS RELEASED AND REMOVED YOU THEN HAVE THREE DIFFERENT SIZED WEIGHTS WHICH ALSO DOUBLE UP TO BE USED ON THE GROUND AS STEPS ALLOWING THE PERSON TO GET THE ABILITY TO STEP UP AND OVER ITEMS AGAIN AND THIRDLY MY FAVOURITE PART OF THE DESIGN IS THE BASE WHEN IT IS TURNED OVER IT BECOMES A INCLINE STEP THIS IS A HUGE PART OF PHYSIO WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AS YOUR BALANCE IS AFFECTED AND BY DOING SIMPLE EXERCISES LIKE THE FIGURE OF 8 WITH YOUR ARMS OUT STRAIGHT WITH OR WITHOUT WEIGHT WHILE STANDING ON A INCINE STEP CAN REBUILD YOUR BODIES MEMORY IMPROVING YOUR BALANCE. THE ENTIRE PRODUCT WHEN ALL TOGETHER IS HELD TOGETHER BY A SIMPLE ROPE MEANING IT IS EASY FOR THE PERSON TO ACCESS ESPECIALLY IF YOU STRUGGLE WITH MOVEMENT IN YOUR HANDS.
Laoch when translated from irish means "Warrior"
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Amy Kelly
LAOCH POD IS A COMPACT PHYSIOTHERAPY EQIPMENT PIECE THAT PATIENTS/USERS CAN HAVE TO TRAIN THEIR BODIES AFTER A DIAGNOSIS OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS WITHIN THE COMFORT OF THEIR OWN HOMES ESPECIALLY NOW IN A PANDEMIC THAT PHYSIOTHERAPY IS BEING TaUGHT REMOTELY, I DESIGNED THIS AFTER MY FAMILY PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED A ms DIAGNOSIS.
THERE ARE THREE MAJOR PARTS TO MY PRODUCT THE MAIN BODY WHEN THE WHEEL IS DETACHED CAN BE USED AS A SQUAT/JUMP BOX THEN WHEN THE LID IS RELEASED AND REMOVED YOU THEN HAVE THREE DIFFERENT SIZED WEIGHTS WHICH ALSO DOUBLE UP TO BE USED ON THE GROUND AS STEPS ALLOWING THE PERSON TO GET THE ABILITY TO STEP UP AND OVER ITEMS AGAIN AND THIRDLY MY FAVOURITE PART OF THE DESIGN IS THE BASE WHEN IT IS TURNED OVER IT BECOMES A INCLINE STEP THIS IS A HUGE PART OF PHYSIO WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AS YOUR BALANCE IS AFFECTED AND BY DOING SIMPLE EXERCISES LIKE THE FIGURE OF 8 WITH YOUR ARMS OUT STRAIGHT WITH OR WITHOUT WEIGHT WHILE STANDING ON A INCINE STEP CAN REBUILD YOUR BODIES MEMORY IMPROVING YOUR BALANCE. THE ENTIRE PRODUCT WHEN ALL TOGETHER IS HELD TOGETHER BY A SIMPLE ROPE MEANING IT IS EASY FOR THE PERSON TO ACCESS ESPECIALLY IF YOU STRUGGLE WITH MOVEMENT IN YOUR HANDS.
Laoch when translated from irish means "Warrior"
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Ciarán Corrigan
Would you like to hear how you train? To hear the explosiveness of a box-jump or the rhythmic motion of a gentle morning jog. ResoFlow delivers exactly that experience.
By bridging the gap between mind and body through sound, ResoFlow makes it easier for the user to become aware of their movement. This awareness is proven to relieve stress and tension, increase well-being and performance.
It is composed of two sensors with modular attachments for ankles, clothing or powerbars. As the distance between the sensors changes, a resulting sound is produced via bluetooth headphones. Through a combination of these attachments with some creativity, the system can be used in many different ways for every kind of exercise.
The sound itself can be ambient, energetic or alarming depending on what you want to get out of it. There is a sound library with many samples to choose from via the app.
Get ready to hear how you move and resonate with your flow.
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Ciarán Corrigan
Would you like to hear how you train? To hear the explosiveness of a box-jump or the rhythmic motion of a gentle morning jog. ResoFlow delivers exactly that experience.
By bridging the gap between mind and body through sound, ResoFlow makes it easier for the user to become aware of their movement. This awareness is proven to relieve stress and tension, increase well-being and performance.
It is composed of two sensors with modular attachments for ankles, clothing or powerbars. As the distance between the sensors changes, a resulting sound is produced via bluetooth headphones. Through a combination of these attachments with some creativity, the system can be used in many different ways for every kind of exercise.
The sound itself can be ambient, energetic or alarming depending on what you want to get out of it. There is a sound library with many samples to choose from via the app.
Get ready to hear how you move and resonate with your flow.
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David Boucher
Perisnoop is an experiential instrument using sight and sound to convey the forgotten stories of Dublin's overlooked spaces. Composed of a periscope and an audio account, accessed through a QR code, Perisnoop provides an insight into these spaces, allowing users to look beyond facades and hoarding walls and witness the current state of these sites while also listening to a personal account or stories of this location as it was in its heyday. This helps users to have a more intimate understanding of the space, what it was and what it meant to people. Over the past couple of years Dublin has seen an increase in urban development, yet many spaces can be overlooked by this and left derelict or vacant while also having fascinating stories locked away. It is Perisnoops goal to tap into and share this potential.
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Sketch modeling
Prototype testings
Perisnoop in use
The perisnoop app
Looking, listening
David Boucher
Perisnoop is an experiential instrument using sight and sound to convey the forgotten stories of Dublin's overlooked spaces. Composed of a periscope and an audio account, accessed through a QR code, Perisnoop provides an insight into these spaces, allowing users to look beyond facades and hoarding walls and witness the current state of these sites while also listening to a personal account or stories of this location as it was in its heyday. This helps users to have a more intimate understanding of the space, what it was and what it meant to people. Over the past couple of years Dublin has seen an increase in urban development, yet many spaces can be overlooked by this and left derelict or vacant while also having fascinating stories locked away. It is Perisnoops goal to tap into and share this potential.
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Diarmuid Farrell
"Archiving is the preservation of knowledge" - Sue Hemmens, Marsh library
How do we reflect in an age of digital ephemera? Storing, filing and archiving of information for future use is an integral part of the human experience, however, in our current digital landscape, this information has become ephemeral due to issues around ownership, rapid optimisation and quantity of data recorded.
'Woven Chats' is an exploration of this digital ephemera and how meaning can be extracted from this data. By creating a platform that enables users to explore and attribute value to an abstracted version of their WhatsApp data in the form of a digital and physical tapestry.
Each stitch represents a text message, highlighting key events and emotions using colour and form, allowing the user to create an object encoded with personal significance that reflects their relationships
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Sketching out the idea.
The backend service and mapping of the interactions of various users based on research and testing, informs and supports human experience.
Exploring digital ephemera.
Data and digital ephemera in its current raw state as a digital material are too technical and do not encourage reflection. By analysing this material using Python scripts, the substance became malleable, finally using Processing to create abstracted forms using this data.
Material research.
Exploring both digital and physical material, blending code and craft to weave numerous mixed reality experiences for users to explore their data.
'Woven Chats'
With WhatsApp being used as the primary tool for digital communication across generations, 'Woven Chats' presents a platform that enables the exploration of these digital relationships.
Creating a digital tapestry.
'Woven Chats' takes two primary forms, a digital experience used as a creative tool to explore and weave meaning from the user's messages and the physical tapestry which acts as a reminder and focal point of reflection.
Decoding meaning.
The abstraction of data is vital to enable users to reflect and attribute personal meaning to the tapestry, however, decoding tools for the later stage of the experience allows for the practice to extend beyond the initial novelty of the service.
Diarmuid Farrell
"Archiving is the preservation of knowledge" - Sue Hemmens, Marsh library
How do we reflect in an age of digital ephemera? Storing, filing and archiving of information for future use is an integral part of the human experience, however, in our current digital landscape, this information has become ephemeral due to issues around ownership, rapid optimisation and quantity of data recorded.
'Woven Chats' is an exploration of this digital ephemera and how meaning can be extracted from this data. By creating a platform that enables users to explore and attribute value to an abstracted version of their WhatsApp data in the form of a digital and physical tapestry.
Each stitch represents a text message, highlighting key events and emotions using colour and form, allowing the user to create an object encoded with personal significance that reflects their relationships
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Ellen Marie Malone
I've always enjoyed being creative, I've studied Illustration and Animation, but I wanted to have more of an impact on people beyond creating something aesthetically pleasing. I began studying Interaction Design, to design for the user. I care about helping people and now that I've the skill set, I'm excited to be in a position to have a positive impact on peoples lives through design. I love that with every new project comes fresh challenges and something new to learn. Whether it's human centred research, in house workshops, service design or UX design, people and their needs are at the core of my work.
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Meeting the user needs
The key aspect of this service, is appealing to both the social care practitioner and the young adults participating in the workshop. One side of the interactions are clear and easy to use, while the other side of the platform is focused on being as engaging and interactive as possible.
User Experience Map
Prevention through Education
An important part of the service is the saved results and information gained from the workshops, which can be viewed only by the workshop facilitator. The results can be used to better meet educational needs, to guide future workshops, or to aid community task forces where appropriate.
Workshop Web App
The workshop participant platform is designed to be fun and interactive, with lots of room for shareable moments.
A toolkit for any social care practitioner
The service can be used by any person working with a young group. The workshop formats are fully customisable to any topic or group setting that might be needed.
Ellen Marie Malone
I've always enjoyed being creative, I've studied Illustration and Animation, but I wanted to have more of an impact on people beyond creating something aesthetically pleasing. I began studying Interaction Design, to design for the user. I care about helping people and now that I've the skill set, I'm excited to be in a position to have a positive impact on peoples lives through design. I love that with every new project comes fresh challenges and something new to learn. Whether it's human centred research, in house workshops, service design or UX design, people and their needs are at the core of my work.
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Huu Quang Anh Nguyen
I want to be a designer that brings cool ideas to the world and makes products that would spark emotion as well as find its value in people's life. Through RECIPEX, I hope I will be one step closer to achieve that.
RECIPEX is a home assistant with a special talent, it can follow you into the kitchen and support your home cooking. The device utilizes ultra-short throw projection technology to display cooking visual cooking guide that is easy to follow from a tiny footprint. Through the accompanying software, the user can set their meal and start cooking at home with ease and efficiency as the device automatically organize cooking steps into time-saving order. This will drastically reduce the stress on new or busy cooks, having trouble multitasking, timing, and following the recipe to have multiple dishes finish promptly.
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Research
A deep dive into all aspects of cooking
Research/ Testing
Additional testing to better understand the difficulties of contemporary home cooks and the potential for new solutions
Product Development
Finalizing the product
Home Mode
Interact with your special home assistant with voice command. Use RECIPEX's ultra-short throw projector to stream media, display information or brighten up your wall space with art
Cooking Assistant
RECIPEX's special feature as a home assistant is the wide range of support it gives in the kitchen. RECIPEX takes the stress off of planning and timing in cooking, while makes it easier to follow recipes
Versatile Unit
RECIPEX's ultra-short throw projector and the included wall mount/projection screen allow the device to be used anywhere
Huu Quang Anh Nguyen
I want to be a designer that brings cool ideas to the world and makes products that would spark emotion as well as find its value in people's life. Through RECIPEX, I hope I will be one step closer to achieve that.
RECIPEX is a home assistant with a special talent, it can follow you into the kitchen and support your home cooking. The device utilizes ultra-short throw projection technology to display cooking visual cooking guide that is easy to follow from a tiny footprint. Through the accompanying software, the user can set their meal and start cooking at home with ease and efficiency as the device automatically organize cooking steps into time-saving order. This will drastically reduce the stress on new or busy cooks, having trouble multitasking, timing, and following the recipe to have multiple dishes finish promptly.
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Jack Canavan
My foundation as a designer is my love for people and their individual stories.
Design for disability is assumed to be just wheelchairs and accessibility ramps, but the majority of people living in our society with diversities have invisible conditions. My final year project, Flo, focuses on designing for neurodiversity, considering how we can support people with neurodiversities and their ability to navigate the public environment.
Flo is a wayfinding service that assists visitors in navigating exhibition spaces. It provides guests to the space with the ability to curate their visit to their needs. Flo is needed because the curation of exhibition spaces aren't considerate enough of the different sensory needs of neurodiverse individuals. It emphasises the welcoming atmosphere in gallery spaces to all, regardless of neurodiversities. Enabling visitors to trust in the space as they can limit the possibilities of undergoing stress or sensory overloads by personalised curated experiences.
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Flo within the gallery space.
Navigation tool in guiding a user.
Visitors follow the green LED arrow on the interface through the gallery hallways until they reach their first stop at an exhibition. The device is meant to be as non-intrusive as possible so it doesn't take away from the experience of viewing the art or installations.
Flo's full system within the gallery space.
Flo's system contains the kiosk to programme your navigation tool and reassurance points that can be found throughout the gallery space for further assistance.
Navigation tool and the Flo graphic.
The user follows the green LED which rotates around the display as they move through the space.
Flo's navigation tool.
Flo's packaging.
Jack Canavan
My foundation as a designer is my love for people and their individual stories.
Design for disability is assumed to be just wheelchairs and accessibility ramps, but the majority of people living in our society with diversities have invisible conditions. My final year project, Flo, focuses on designing for neurodiversity, considering how we can support people with neurodiversities and their ability to navigate the public environment.
Flo is a wayfinding service that assists visitors in navigating exhibition spaces. It provides guests to the space with the ability to curate their visit to their needs. Flo is needed because the curation of exhibition spaces aren't considerate enough of the different sensory needs of neurodiverse individuals. It emphasises the welcoming atmosphere in gallery spaces to all, regardless of neurodiversities. Enabling visitors to trust in the space as they can limit the possibilities of undergoing stress or sensory overloads by personalised curated experiences.
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Joe Fahy
"Smart Horse" is a toolkit that is dispensed from a reappropriated condom machine situated in bathrooms of pubs and clubs to ask the question: "Why don't we treat drugs like safe sex?"
The toolkit allows the user to more accurately and consistently dose and split recreational drugs while reducing the risk of contracting diseases like HIV and Hepatitis from the information and direction on the apparatus' themselves that emphasises practices like not sharing sniffing devices etc.
Although the toolkit is not a perfect way to accurately and consistently dose drugs it affords the user a gauge to base their drug usage off of and to figure out that perhaps their idea of the correct amount or method is no where near appropriate.
The goal of the service is to offer the public tangible information to be established in public discourse to give those who learn from each other a baseline to gauge their usage off of as well as allowing people to find out whats normal and start dialogues about the nuances and misconceptions of recreational drug usage i.e. effects or methods of ingestion.
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Joe Fahy
"Smart Horse" is a toolkit that is dispensed from a reappropriated condom machine situated in bathrooms of pubs and clubs to ask the question: "Why don't we treat drugs like safe sex?"
The toolkit allows the user to more accurately and consistently dose and split recreational drugs while reducing the risk of contracting diseases like HIV and Hepatitis from the information and direction on the apparatus' themselves that emphasises practices like not sharing sniffing devices etc.
Although the toolkit is not a perfect way to accurately and consistently dose drugs it affords the user a gauge to base their drug usage off of and to figure out that perhaps their idea of the correct amount or method is no where near appropriate.
The goal of the service is to offer the public tangible information to be established in public discourse to give those who learn from each other a baseline to gauge their usage off of as well as allowing people to find out whats normal and start dialogues about the nuances and misconceptions of recreational drug usage i.e. effects or methods of ingestion.
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Jonathan Theobald
'Natural Angle' Is a modular fishing Lure combining and balancing complexities and simplicities found in lure fishing and fly fishing.
The Lure offers a high level of control but in an accessible manner, allowing for more experimentation and play. A combination of material choice and modularity enables easy repair and responsible end of life breakdown. This makes Natural Angle an environmental choice in an industry contributing to the huge problem of plastic Pollution which threatens the future of marine sports such as fishing.
My approach is crafting narrative to engage the user into thought and interaction around a need. I try and solve a problem by isolating something functional
and abstract its context, creating a different typical experience for the user through a hands-on research-driven process.
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Choice
The Natural Angle starter lure kit offers a wide range of fishing methods with 5 possible combinations to piece together.
Bon Appetit
Natural Angle aims to feed your creative soul, while also being an attractive menu choice for the target fish through mimicking baitfish movement and form.
Explore
Lure modularity enables anglers to adapt to different aquatic environments. Simple wood, metal and porcelain materials were chosen to have minimal impact if a lure was lost exploring new terrain.
Select-Combine-Build (Take Control)
Secure The Future
The engaging process of tying the lure together invites an element of craft found in fly fishing. Conveniently damaged parts can easily be replaced extending the life of the lure.
E'fish'ant
Natural Angle starts in your hands with the core 'S-Plate', the digital platform then allows you to build your collection and expand onto the core even when on the go, the most likely place for combination inspiration to strike
Jonathan Theobald
'Natural Angle' Is a modular fishing Lure combining and balancing complexities and simplicities found in lure fishing and fly fishing.
The Lure offers a high level of control but in an accessible manner, allowing for more experimentation and play. A combination of material choice and modularity enables easy repair and responsible end of life breakdown. This makes Natural Angle an environmental choice in an industry contributing to the huge problem of plastic Pollution which threatens the future of marine sports such as fishing.
My approach is crafting narrative to engage the user into thought and interaction around a need. I try and solve a problem by isolating something functional
and abstract its context, creating a different typical experience for the user through a hands-on research-driven process.
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Keith Fitzsimons
Peppy is a product that incentivises children with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) to practise chest clearance therapy, while tracking their health on the Peppy app. People with CFs must stick to a daily routine of clearing their lungs of mucus in order to stay healthy. This experience can be far from pleasant, particularly for children who can struggle to understand why they must devote time away from their mornings, evening or playtime to do things like PEP therapy. Positive expiratory pressure (PEP) therapy is an airway clearance technique for CF patients. By breathing out with a moderate force against a resistance, a positive pressure is generated in the airways, helping to keep them open. The routine can become rather monotonous, so Peppy makes it exciting and enjoyable through the use of fun attachments that the user can play with using their breath. Peppy also functions as a spirometer, meaning, it records the users lung function levels and logs it on the Peppy app, where it can be accessed by the user and shared to their medical team.
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The Peppy App
The product connects to your phone via Bluetooth, and transfers the data recorded from the spirometry test to the app. From here, it can be shared with the user's practitioners.
Peppy in use with Ball and Basket Attachment
General Assembly
These are the core parts that make up any Peppy, excluding decoractive or playable attachments.
Attachments
Replace dread with excitement by attaching some of these attachments to the PEP during therapy.
Product Description
A PEP to be Proud of
Mix and match different parts and make your Peppy the way you like it.
Keith Fitzsimons
Peppy is a product that incentivises children with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) to practise chest clearance therapy, while tracking their health on the Peppy app. People with CFs must stick to a daily routine of clearing their lungs of mucus in order to stay healthy. This experience can be far from pleasant, particularly for children who can struggle to understand why they must devote time away from their mornings, evening or playtime to do things like PEP therapy. Positive expiratory pressure (PEP) therapy is an airway clearance technique for CF patients. By breathing out with a moderate force against a resistance, a positive pressure is generated in the airways, helping to keep them open. The routine can become rather monotonous, so Peppy makes it exciting and enjoyable through the use of fun attachments that the user can play with using their breath. Peppy also functions as a spirometer, meaning, it records the users lung function levels and logs it on the Peppy app, where it can be accessed by the user and shared to their medical team.
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