 So judges, I'm very excited to introduce you to our three finalist teams Emily Bryson and Natasha Enriquez from Miami Yanru Daisy Chen and Adam Margolis from Miami will Compton Sean O'Neill and Eddie Smith from San Luis Obispo, California First a big round of applause to all of you Plus the judges have looked at your designs and they're eager to hear more about your design ideas before we get started I'd like to you I'd like to introduce you to our judges Elise Roy helps companies analyze products services and programs from the vantage point of people with disabilities Elise draws on her 15 plus years of working with a disability community and her diverse career path as a lawyer who worked on the United Nations disability treaty marketing manager and product designer to shape solutions for her clients Todd Waterbury is the chief creative officer at Target where he establishes the creative direction of Target's marketing efforts leading an internal team of art directors designers developers writers and producers as well as its external agency and design partners Todd also proudly serves on the board of trustees of Cooper Hewitt Eleanor Morgan is SVP of experience at Casper where she's responsible for the design and development of Casper's end-to-end Customer experience across digital and retail touch points She believes design and brand can make bedtime cool again and leads teams to create customer Experiences that are that make shopping for sleep and the routine around it joyful Caroline Bowman is the director of Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum The only museum in the country devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design Cooper Hewitt's special exhibitions and educational programs tell design story raise awareness of designs universal value and Demonstrate designs power to make a difference and you had a chance to experience some of it this weekend Mike Milley is the director of creative consulting at BMW group design works in Los Angeles He leads a cross-disciplinary team that brings the future to life at the intersection of research strategy and foresight He was the founding director of Samsung's Lifestyle Research Lab and worked on design teams at Nike and Phillips. You saw some of his work upstairs earlier today Heath Kirkland is a mechanical engineer accessories designer and industrial designer as well as a CEO and co-founder of where works a haptic design Company the company's first product way band is a wearable tactile navigation device That guides users who are blind or have trouble seeing to an end destination using only vibration You saw this piece in our access possibility exhibition earlier today David Stowell, you know from your studio visit yesterday of smart design David is the founder and CEO of smart design one of the world's premier strategic design companies that helps people live better and Work smarter the oxo good grips line. He created in 1989 pioneered the concept of universal design in everyday products smart design was the recipient of Cooper Hewitt's 2010 National Design Award for product design Thank You judges Please join me now in welcoming our first presentation with Emily Bryson and Natasha Enriquez Hello, my name is Natasha and I'm Emily and we created art share So our mission was to create a way that would enable the blind and visually impaired to create art This is important to us because we ourselves are artists and have benefited greatly from the value and pleasure that is making art So you might be thinking why would someone who's visually impaired want to create art? So the first reason is a sense of achievement So us as artists it's it's very fulfilling to have a blank sheet of paper and to create something from nothing Along with that we did some research and we found that Not only is our making fun, but it really helps with the facilitation of motor skills So as a blind person Your hands are sort of your eyes. So you really need to refine those skills If someone who is blind didn't create art They would have to take time out of their schedule to do like exercises instead We also found through our research that there were a lot of Foundations that focused on making art museums accessible to those who are blind and visually impaired But they never tackled the topic of actually allowing them to create Art so we wanted to tap into that. Yeah So we had the opportunity to visit the lighthouse for the blind in Miami, Florida And this is an organization which facilitates different sort of activities and classes for those who are blind So there we met the head of the art department there Nelva Gonzalez And she showed us a whole tour of the studio and there was a huge range of work there from texture art to paper Maché to pottery so there was a huge Enthusiasm within the classroom, which was really interesting for us to see So these are some of the people that we met personally the first group is Gracie and Jasmine They're both interested in art in a more casual way But they told us that they enjoy making pom-poms which are these like puffy little things of yarn And they just like to do that on their free time the second person we met is Eddie And he's really interested in creating abstract art. So he likes to do In the studio and the final person is Jenny May and she's one of the most passionate people that we met there so she's really interested in making pom-poms that into bears and she likes to give them as gifts to her Friends and her family and she has to actually take the pom-poms from home to the studio So that's kind of an inconvenience for her that we thought was interesting. Yeah, so after going to our lighthouse We had several realizations So we realized that art is hugely important for people who are blind and almost more so than those who are sighted So our first realization was that people of all ages We're creating art at the lighthouse so like Emily and I we don't really know many adults who like paint for recreation Like we don't come from artistic families, but it was really inspiring and really fun to see people of all ages creating art Another thing we realized was there was a huge culture of gift giving so all these people who would create art They they really valued giving it to their loved ones another thing we discovered was that When people try to push art onto the blind and visually impaired they try to push concepts like Color and 2d without realizing that if you were born blind and you've never been able to see these things It's something you're never going to be able to conceptualize and is unhelpful and really uninteresting to them So in order to create art that is interesting for them. You have to engage them with their senses So we looked at some pre-existing products and So they're all inaccessible and hard to find you'd have to search on some weird obscure website And added on that they're all super expensive and manufactured for children mainly some of the products that really inspired us One of the one on the top left is called an APH drawing board and you basically use a pen and you can create a positive mark freehand We actually talked to an elbow the head of the art program there And she told us that she'd heard about it, but it was very expensive and hard to find So it just wasn't convenient to have in the studio and we also found a toolkit that is for children To practice their different motor skills, which is something else We were interested in so it's interesting because it has little plastic trinkets that each one Focuses on a different motor skills. That was really inspiring to us as well so we started to draw concepts and we really wanted to tackle all the motor skills without Thinking that one was more important So we were trying to sort of put all of the aspects into one thing And we realized that that was sort of like impossible to do so we decided that instead of doing all one What a kid sorry instead of doing something that was an all-in-one we would do a kit that would have you know multiple features Yeah, so we decided to focus on three different motor skills one is winding the other one is rolling and the other one is stamping So this was the first part before we started the concept sketches. We wanted to do some ergonomic studies So we basically took a hand and we did the motions that you'd be using the tool with and we looked at the Impression that it made on clay so for rolling. It's kind of this sort of impression and For whining. It's kind of this impression. So just to get some inspiration And then this is when we started our prototype. So we really wanted it to be ergonomic So we created various forms of the roller tool prototypes the stamper tool prototypes and the window tool prototypes And we also had a sensory board So we can sort of test the people at the lighthouse for the blind and see what they thought about all the different textures So this was a really important part of our process We wanted to design with them and get their input So we went back to the lighthouse and we handed them each product after explaining to them What the function was and we got their insights on it And they told us that generally they liked the larger tools because it gave them more stability And they also really preferred the hexagonal shapes because those turns gave them a better grip So that was really interesting So these are the final products. So the winding tool The stamping tool and the rolling tool. So this is the winding tool Which like all the other tools would dispense a texture onto a sheet of paper So this one is interesting because it sort of works like a compass where the user will be able to make a perfect circle so whether you have a shaky hand you'll be able to make that shape and Our goal with these products was not only to make a tool for people who are blind But it is just to create a tool in general that us as artists would like to use Yeah, so some of the features it has an adjustable nozzle So you could do any circumference that you wanted to you hold one side and you turn with the other It has a rubber padding grip on the bottom So you can have some friction and more stability when you're holding the center of it as well as replaceable cartridges So you can change the texture pack to whatever texture you want This is the second tool it's the roller tool it was our original idea it allows you to freehand draw positive textured line on basically any surface that you want That has a very ergonomic profile. It's what they preferred as well as a thumb thumb grip and The cartridge refill process is you sort of squeeze it and you pull it so you can put any different texture that you want The stamper tool is the final tool and it's the stamping motion It has you're able to identify the different borders So there would be different shapes that you could use you could use a heart a triangle Anything you want that could really be interchangeable. So the cartridge refill process is the same of the squeeze and pull As well as a rubber grip on the bottom and the hexagonal shape that they preferred as well So market accessibility was really important to us So like we said earlier these products are really inaccessible and expensive So because this is a tool that anyone could use regardless of visual impairment We imagine it at you know department stores in the craft section. We imagine it being introduced in the classroom But and also like online retail. So basically very easy to find So this was the model making process. I had some very basic orthographics in the beginning But we went to a family friend and we used a lathe machine to sort of get the form made out of PVC soft-core Plastic so we took the panels and we put the orthographics in it. So that was just the process. Yeah So it's very important that this is like a mainstream product. We wanted it to be stylish for for both people who are excited and blind So if you guys saw the box earlier There's these little tactile circles on it. So we were thinking about packaging and how most of time there's graphic decals So we were thinking of sort of something that's interesting Texturally like tactily and we wanted to include a set of instructions that would be easy for someone who is blind and someone who decided to understand So these this is just an overview of everything we've done and the sort of pillars We were trying to reach accessibility Self-sufficiency and to have it be ergonomic. So some things the instruction manual makes it self-sufficient We want them to be able to understand it on their own when they're introduced to it It's all made of wood for the for the ergonomic sense and as well as our prototyping process So and so now we're thinking about product expansion. So this is really exciting So we're thinking about different texture packs So it's like you know, you get the one that it comes with but there'll be like a revolving catalog in stores Maybe based on season or different holidays and the different textures can be associated with those things So for summer you might get a texture that is reminiscent of grass and has the sense Yeah, one thing we notice in the studio is that their studio is sort of stagnant They're always using the same materials so that can get really boring. So we were thinking in the future We could sort of have this revolving texture pack So they can expand the kind of art that they make and sort of get experimental with it It could always be interesting to them and the way that it is to us Yeah, another interesting thing that we noticed is when we went to the lighthouse and we gave them the prototypes They would grab the objects and make like noises and hum tunes associated with the action that they were doing so We thought that in the future it would be cool to put like a musical implicate like a musical touch on it Yeah, Nelva also thought it would be useful so that they know when the mark is actually being made So they have some sort of affirmation maybe to be a more fulfilling experience for them And that's it. Thank you guys So let me just go. Any questions? Any questions? Yes Did you spend much time making yourself blind for blindfolds while you were doing this? Oh one thing that was really fun was that Nelva the head of the lighthouse for the blind She actually did this exercise with us where she made us close our eyes We were blindfolded and she would have us test different materials because she said one of the huge things about you know doing art with people who are blind is it's training them to like Understand materials so that seems super simple, right? So she put like a wood star in our hands a plastic star and then like a what was the other one? There's some other material. I think it's like a glass and I had a super hard time distinguishing All of them apart and it's something like looking at it because you know as a sighted person I've been reliant on my sight my whole life that you don't realize Like how similar these things are and how integral it is for to be able to distinguish this Yeah I'm as a design researcher myself. I'm really impressed with the depth that you went to in your research You clearly built a lot of empathy for your users I heard you a couple of times during your your process talk about things that you were surprised by that Like oh, it's interesting that people got really bored by using the same materials over again That gave us an idea to to do something like this and you know I think that really great design finds that balance between insight and and empathy or imagination Right and putting yourselves in a position of your user Helps you build that that kind of empathy that will serve you really well as designers going forward One thing that I was curious about could you talk a little bit about the process of getting from Your initial research and insights to the three Specific products that you got to Because there was a there's a little bit of a fast forward in your presentation You're like and then we did these three things And I'm super curious was was that more of an intuitive like as you know Let's use our imagination and as designers sort of create some potential solutions Or were there specific things that you learned or saw your research that led to those three solutions? Yeah, well researching we saw that there were different exercises that there were sort of like drills that people would do to gain different motor skills And it was stuff with like normal household objects. So like matching different lids to different sizes of like Cans for example So we kind of took those exercises and then we took the motion that it was doing And we just chose three that we thought were most common and all the ones that we saw and we kind of just use those motions Minus all the tools the household products I'm not saying I also I spend a lot of time working with blind people. And so, uh, you know, like I was really impressed Again by the level of research You know, like it's uh, it's it's really an interesting world to walk into when you really think about what it means to like remove sight from the experience as a totality And it takes a lot of yeah, like a lot of empathy to kind of get into those socks and get into those spaces So kudos a whole bunch on that. Um On the super positive end, like the ideation looks amazing. Um, I don't know like I feel like I wasn't drawn like that until I got to college so I don't know who you guys were working with or like which one of you but great work. Um You really kind of flushed through the ideas I love the process of the the materiality and like the studies and the form studies It's like, uh, you know, like uh at the end of the day as a designer you're not really paid for what you produce you're paid for the process in which you produce that thing and so Having this process and being able to go through this was like a really It was nice to kind of get into the world that you were building like without you actually being here to kind of explain that um I think one of the things that I'm I'm curious about uh from the point of view of uh of a Of just functionality. I'm also an engineer at heart. And so You know, I was curious as to kind of like have you guys really thought of like what this Texture material like is like what rolls out. Is it like a tape? Is it like a glue? Is it like an ink? Is it I was I was really curious around like the physical manifestation of like How do you create these textured products if you thought about it? Yeah, so it's really important for us to make it like non-messy and like super Like dry super quickly because one of the issues is that you know, if it's messy and you can't see you're going to get your hand Like all dirty Um, so we were thinking really thinking about like stickers and our original inspiration was the wide out dispenser So we don't have all the specifications on how that will work But we know that we want to integrate that type of technology like a sticker tape type of thing Okay Fantastic. And um, and then I think also to us like uh when I when I initially saw I thought it was I also thought it was the the pieces were really big And then but then it was really also where you buy okay Well, these were the sizes that were preferred and I'm curious as to uh because it looked like uh the marketing is uh Is in the space for children Um, who will probably have like much smaller hands. Um in general and I'm curious as to Were you able to talk to any uh Visually impaired kids at all to to get their feedback or was it mainly adult you were working with? It was mainly adults that we were working with. Yeah, okay Not fantastic Thank you. Thank you I'm curious what people said they would make with this Like you guys put so much great thinking into the form factor of it and how people hold and use it and I'm curious if you got any feedback about what the output people wanted to make from these words Yeah, so one thing that really inspired the whole different texture packs Is that people were saying that it would be great for like holiday cards We talked about the possibility of like one resembled like a texture pack that like resembled a tree And she's like, oh, that's great. Like I could do a Christmas tree So it's like sort of like the bridging You know what a sighted person experience would have blind person experience Your presentation was extremely well organized and the story was well told it was really on a professional level The way we would do that. Thank you Oh and then one more thing that the and I think one of the things that you guys really hit on the nail and one of the things I was really excited about is uh Packaging design, you know, like one of the things that we're doing is we're creating a device for blind people And so like when they open it up, we have to make sure that that experience is purely tactile Like you don't need any site at all to open the product to understand where things are And we've been looking a lot or we've been exploring a lot around how we could use textured Not necessarily like language but more kind of like oh of these dots are this long and they make you flow in this way Then you put your hand here You'll naturally want to gravitate toward the thing that we we want to go to with And so one of the things that I really thought and and one of the biggest opportunities I see is like outside after you get beyond like the art space With children making art I think what you really have is like you have some kind of like textured prototyping tool that People can use because right now it's like doing that type of work is Even for us as designers, it's a it's a it's a it's a process You got to get wax printers or special equipment and so being able to like quickly prototype You know like textured based Elements and like packaging design. I think it's going to be like a huge opportunity as well. So yeah, really great job all in all Thank you. Thank you Thank you Good afternoon My name is daisy and i'm adam margolis Our project's name is called avoire It is a soft pre installed software on your phone that transcribes Vocal announcement into visual announcement on your phone for the individuals who are deaf Heart of hearing or experiencing hearing loss So what we'll do is we'll intercept these audio announcements and they'll transcribe them into text that pop up on your phone So this is a short video that sort of outlines some of the obstacles that individuals who are deaf Who experience hearing loss face on a daily basis? So what we wanted to do is make sure that all individuals who are deaf who experience hearing loss Are unable to have the right to hear all audio announcements and get important information So this is in places like restaurants and airports Loud places that a lot of people congregate where they might not be able to pick up on the announcements So we spoke to around 30 people uh daisy and i sat at a starbucks and we went to the miami deaf center And we spoke to people With varying levels of hearing loss or who were completely deaf We also spoke to hearing people and they said a lot of the methods of communication or getting audio announcements were insufficient So they ended up having to ask What the information was or they had to inquire in another way So during our research we spoke to around 30 people and the people that i'm about to introduce you to are just Some representative of the diverse obstacles that we that we encountered so this is rhodes We met him at the starbucks and he is 78 and retired and he said that he's deaf in both ears He uses hearing aids And he travels with the helper his helper has to write things down for him in order for him to actually understand what's going on and he said that he gets angry and A lot of the time missing announcements Wastes time and he said that one time when he was at the gym He missed the announcement that his car was being towed and he ended up having an issue with that And this is joseph he is 46 years old and a orthodontic technician who has as burger syndrome He can't really pay attention to the surrounding because he's always on his phone and um Like not really focused and we heard that that she um he talked to us about He gets frustrated when he can't hear announcement and also once at the grand central station in new york It was really loud and he can't hear the announcement So they he missed the train because he didn't receive the information and as a orthodontic technician He always has to make announcement for the patients to proceed to the chair so But he has to do that a lot of times because they usually can't pay attention to that either Right so because of his um because he has as burgers a lot of the time He takes gets comfort from his phone by like reading things on his phone so A lot of the information would be popping up there and then I spoke to a woman and her daughter Sophie she's 12 and she has autism and she doesn't have any noticeable hearing loss or she she doesn't have Anything with her hearing, but she wears headphones to block out loud noises and because of her sensitivity She ends up like texting her mother for a lot of the information that she needs And her mother was explaining to us that At school it's hard for her to hear especially since she's wears headphones most of the time and because of that Something that would pop up on her phone like her mother texts her would be really helpful to her And these are based on The national institution of health the the data we pull out throughout the whole world that the population that experience hearing loss So around 460 people Million people worldwide experience some sort of hearing loss and in the united states. That's like approximately 46 million And this is also based on the Data that we found in that in national institution of health that the relationship between population versus aging So as you can see when the people age when they grow into their elder The population of who experience hearing loss tend to increase a lot so, uh, this is our main concept our initial concept and uh, originally it was just sort of a way for people to Get these to get this information on their phone and there wasn't really anything like that was uh, super Um, it wasn't like a great system because we realized that a lot of these people sometimes they can't read what happens on their phone or They're not like technologically proficient So our goals ended up being to create convenience and improve efficiency and really allow Individuals who are deaf or who have hearing loss to be fully part of society and these are the goals and benefits that we came across is As I said, it's transcribed public announcement for people who have hearing loss to see and have access to Information and the the benefit of it. It's that Improves efficiency creates convenience increase accessibility and also the most importantly satisfy customers So, um, this is the process of how it would work. Um, there would be a server that the place would Have and it would be connected to the pa system and based on the location Like cellular data on your phone What would happen would be um, your phone would determine your location and based on that you would get like location specific announcements So you get like general announcements like time Or like other important things that are happening. We'd also get like specific announcements that are filtered By the of war connecting to other apps on your phone and other accounts So these are the applications that you guys probably have experienced before Doing lunch in the middle table there. It's a recording of the screen and we added the middle the second one Where's uh, which the person is signing to the person who are looking at the phone Because we talked to the deaf Miami deaf center. They say different people who have different Reading abilities. So it's it's really helpful for them to have a general Apply to all kind of sign language so they know what it's talking about. Yeah, right and um We wanted to make sure that of war would be applicable to as many places as possible So assembly places like airports and train stations and stadiums Where there's a lot going on and People need information really quickly and offices and Like school environments also, um, like commerce and retail places like shops and restaurants and then Other places that information is vital like hospitals where like a split second of information can change like can save someone's life So these are some obstacles that we came across when we talked to the 30 interviewers and also Miami deaf center um These really brought us into the Like the need and the more detailed design and also shows us There will be a lot of more options that could go under this design The first one is that some individuals can't have like they don't have a modal device and also Some don't want to type on their phones mainly the elders because the phones get them confused And the third one is not suitable for individuals who are uh, blind because they can't read the announcement And then the fourth one is individuals who are very in technological proficiency Some might have flip phones. Some have touchscreen phones and other brands of phones Five is that um, some people who have difficult hearing like while reading in different languages because some know chinese some are Spanish and we know english So what we wanted to look at was the way that it would work with the ADA So the ADA says that all um, there must be auxiliary materials that we provided to ensure Effective communication So essentially what Avoir does is it makes these verbal announcements available to everyone and that way, uh, these places that are Talking that are making announcements. Um, ensure effective communication and are relieved of some sort of liability And this is the most exciting slide. This is my favorite slide. Okay. Um Avoir creates a universal impact. It not only Applies to individuals who are deaf or are hard of hearing But it also applies to normal people who are affected by external factors such as environmental noise announcement speed and then the announcement volume and also other miscellaneous distractions such as When you're having conversation with others or you're reading a book and you get distracted and not focused Yeah, so it's since everyone has um, like a lot of the time a lot of people have Normal devices. Um, it there's a broad reach So it's inclusive it's inclusive to anyone who really has one of these devices Yeah, it almost feels like we're changing the world So that that's Avoir we're a solution based software that will help people like Rhodes and Sophie and Joseph But also help um millions and millions of other people Yep, thank you so much Any questions? Um I love the project. I love what you're trying to do. Um Not just because I'm deaf myself, but I think it's um something that's important Uh, I love the fact that you extended it from not just deaf and hard of hearing people But to other situations that's really important, especially in trying to launch something um And I like how you found out that it's important not to just have feedback Come in the form of text but also in sign language That was really important I wonder, um, what was your initial inspiration for this project? Assignment and we wanted to make sure that we focused on a group of people that would be that would be able to Receive this sort of information and we looked at um, like people like my grandfather who has Who wears hearing aids in both ears my father who has tinnitus and a lot of the times they miss like a lot of announcements and We wanted to make something that would help them And then also in school a lot of the time our teacher actually has to quiet down the whole classroom Because we're really loud and he needs to quiet everyone down in order to actually hear the general like pa announcements And um, we thought of sort of translating that like from like a speech to text software First of all I'll say I love that you took a business angle to it that there's a value proposition here for businesses to be more compliant And um, even from Casper the mattress company We have to think about that constantly as we design mattress stores And how people who are handicapped can try the beds as as much and as well as everyone else um I love the universality of it And it made me think about even airport situations today where Airlines are starting to roll out these big screens that say like what gate what Zone they're calling because it's such a problem everyone's always asking if you're ever waiting in line for an airplane What zone did they call did you hear it? And it's so much more of an expensive and heavy infrastructure solution what they're doing versus what you're doing Which is very lightweight doesn't require a lot of expense on the technology side And any business could opt into no matter how big or small And I'm so sort of last question is I'm curious if we've got any feedback from businesses on it. Um, we didn't I will sort of Yeah a little So when we talked to the mentors on the mentor weekend, uh, the head of ac4d, which is coco, I think He actually talked to us about Like in in business like why would they Um, like buy this why would they being like being focused and also why would we like see it as an important thing So, yeah, I think The reason why we created this it's like we wanted, um people who have Very like difficult daily Access to become more um convenient. It's kind of an emotional approach than a business So we kind of tried to find the balancing point between those two And we this is what we ended up having and we understood that through his advice that We needed to create a product that would help as many people as possible and strike a chord with people Not like all sorts of people, but it would also sort of like we like we kind of got a little Like with the law with the ADA making sure that like a business would be interested in like having themselves being relieved A little bit more liability so in case something goes wrong like when you're at an airport If you miss your flight because like a gate changed happened and you didn't hear it Like you have to go to a person and like rebook your flight So with this it's like you do you still do that? But when you talk to them like I didn't hear the announcement It's like it was on your phone like why didn't you see it? Like like so the airline in effect like it might like save a little bit of money for the airline And it also really increased the customer satisfaction. Well, not just yeah, and not just that it's also like We were talking to Mary Anderson who was a designer for Target And she was saying that they used the software to share like different product ideas and for people to like comment on them And with this it's like she can have a lot of different people like like having the same information at once And that way when we're selling if we're selling it to an airport or to an airline Some whatever business they'd be able to like send them something mass out at the same time So that as many people as possible could get it Yeah Great work and great presentation. I was also happy to hear about your learnings from the mentor weekend. Thank you I'm curious about the name. Did you come up with that from the start? Yeah, a little bit of a branding idea. Okay, so a boy it's um, uh, I Like we kind of searched online that a boy is a Latin root to hear to understand And uh, french word is to see I think yeah At war Like to like like of while like like see you later something like yeah like that. Yeah Um, and we wanted to like for the icon. We wanted to create something bright Um, that would like make sure that people could see it. So we chose orange Yeah, I'm gonna say um I'll I'll go and have a few things out. So first of all, um I'm a big fan of like when you talk to people and get information directly from them So the 30 interviews because I'm the interviews are always a challenging thing to do. So Uh, kudos on that. I'm curious My first question is is how did you find a starbucks that has so many people that were deaf? Um, well, it wasn't So I was actually so I live in a neighborhood where um, I think there's a lot a large elderly population I live on like north Miami beach. So there's a lot of retired people And actually the starbucks that I sat in we sat in It's the busiest starbucks in florida and like the number two Like it has like most like second most revenue in the entire country So people coming in out all the time and a lot of times they actually have to like Screen names in order for people to get their drinks And I went on like we went on a sundae when there was like people like with their families and there are a lot of like people coming in and out and um, A lot of the people that we talked to They had varying levels of like hearing ability like roads. We spoke to He is like he lost his hearing over time And we spoke to a few other people that lost their hearing over time, but it's not as bad And since they were elderly They really like sort of understood like or tried to understand what we're trying to do But um, I mean it was also just like the amount of time we spent there like new people coming in and out and like Going to the deaf center really helped because um, they were actually able to speak to a whole group of people that really Like could give us really really good information. Yeah And then um, the other thing I was curious about is um, when I was over there when I was looking at it before you came in I thought I thought I thought it was a great idea. I thought the business case where it was really really strong, which was I think fantastic. I'm curious as to like, why did you choose transcribing as opposed to just like having the sending The text files directly like taking it from the air as a level of complication to it Well, um, I think we initially One of the things that the mentors told us was it was a sort of a thing where we had a worker type stuff in And uh, coca who was telling us that there was like a huge added expense for like businesses to have that Plus they have to if they're gonna have a server they can like just download something already to their server So we took that out of it and when we went to actually went to ibm in austin And we met people who were working on the speech text system for watson And they said that there'd be ways that they could like code into a phone or a software um, this sort of like speech to text system that would then allow um, like sort of The specific voice of the announcements to be like tran and picked up and then translated into the into the device And then with also with that, um, we wanted to like Have another sort of approach to it where there was information from like your google account on your um, and your phone Like a new white flight you're in uh, so it's like it can like send you specific announcements to that So that also takes away, um, like sort of the worker element and transcribing It's just because it's like we wanted to have it be like heard and then written out like like a filter system Right. Yeah To me, that's one of the more interesting elements of what is a very interesting project I think that you know the way that you took a very specific use case And turned it into kind of a universal solution is really interesting And I think there's actually another level that you guys can go to obviously You know, we're in an attention economy right now that there is constant. Hey, hey That we all experience in a daily almost minute to minute basis And if there are ways that you could sort of take this kind of platform and think about How do we do that kind of filtering notification? That can be a potentially universally applied solution that a lot of people would really crave Very yeah, that's a really important point. Yeah, I mean we wanted to have as many Uses for it as possible too. So it could be like also, um, like just other things That could come up like all the time like in schools like or hospitals when you have like an ambulance coming in like The ambulance the person in the ambulance could like send a like a message to a war and a war would pop up on like All the emergency staff's phones. So they would be like we're having this case come in and they could prepare. Yeah And also traffic too Well, yeah, because ambulance go across on the road and what if people gets the notification? They are like Let that go through or something Thank you. Thank you so much I'm Sean and yelp and i'm eddie smith and we're from sandless wissville california and our product is the sequoia so this started out as a product we were tasked with by our local preschool that is Situated next to our high school as they came with us and asked us to redesign a table that they had That could fit their whole class and that could have wheelchair accessibility For future students that would need it or staff So we went through multiple design iterations and over 15 marks of CAD plans and came up with this product the sequoia What we thought was a logical place to start once we were given the project of Redesigning a picnic table was to look at existing picnic table designs We're not going to build one on our own from the ground up And the main problems that we saw with these designs fell into one of two categories one being that they weren't accessible at all Most picnic tables have legs and awkward spots that don't allow wheelchairs to roll in at all And obviously that wouldn't work picnic tables that are wheelchair accessible often fell short in the fact that They either were unaesthetic and businesses that seat large venues or are like high-end businesses like wineries or things like that were Not didn't really want to put them in their venues because they didn't look good And then the second problem that we would often run into is that wheelchair users would feel Marginalized or kind of as an afterthought because a lot of picnic tables put wheelchair seating on the very end For the reason that they don't want to sacrifice the main seating in the middle of the table that will be used all of the time So those were kind of the initial Problems that we were looking to deal with and then the next step Was to research exactly what ADA compliance necessitated So we went online and we did research on what the ADA compliance standards are And it basically is this box of space that you have to fit in your table and just to kind of simplify it down It's uh 27 inches tall and that has to be roughly exact. There's not like a big margin there It has to be a minimum of 30 inches wide and a minimum of 19 inches under the table and then there's also a Kind of area of space for the wheelchair But that doesn't apply as much to the table as it does There just has to be open space around the table. So that wasn't as much of a concern Our final design ended up meeting and exceeding these we did hit the 27 inches tall It was 30 inches wide at the very narrowest But because of the angled design it ended up being around 48 inches from here to here Which we got feedback on later was actually a very positive thing We'll get to that in a little bit and then an extended 28 inches under the table So there were no problems that we ended up running into there It was very accessible and the wheelchair had a very significant amount of room And so this is what ended up being our solution. It's an ADA compliant Fully ADA compliant And what's great about it is it has removable seats And that allows it to maintain a full seating capacity when the wheelchair function is not in use because the seats can Be placed back on the table and you can still seat people in those locations We built it out of redwood. So it also maintains a very high aesthetic appeal So high-end venues will be very willing to place it there. It looks good and it especially goes well In wineries we live on the central coast. There's a lot of wineries there. We've been targeting them as a business group They've we've got a lot of positive feedback about how the table looks especially from them And then finally like we said it places the person at the middle of the table rather than the outside and that As we got feedback from savannah was absolutely huge plus We spent a couple periods at school working with students who use wheelchairs regularly and Savannah gave us incredible feedback. We spent time with a number of different students But savannah by far was one of the most gave us some of the most positive reviews I was honestly very surprised with What she thought of our table like I didn't think that it would be quite as big of a deal as what she ended up making it up to be the first problem that she Told us about was that it's kind of tough to see in this picture. It'll be a little clearer in the next video but Her wheelchair has a controller arm that allows her to control it without having to move the wheels It is robotically controlled and that controller arm extends up above the armrest And because of that lots of times the controller arm will run into the table top And it'll kind of like stop her from getting all the way into the table So she has to either lean forward or kind of scoop forward in the wheelchair And because our table is built strictly to the standards of ada and has a relatively thin top That controller arm was able to slide over the top of the table while the rest of the armrest slid underneath So that wasn't a problem for her and that is something that she noted is great Another thing that she really enjoyed was the width of the seat like we talked about before we have a full 48 inch span That's more than double or sorry more than 50 percent larger than the necessary requirement And what that allowed is that allowed her assistant her aid To sit on the edge of the other bench and swing her legs into the same compartment as the wheelchair Which was huge because she was able to help her eat Help her do anything that she needed help with while she was sitting there at the table And that's something that lots of times they would struggle with her mentor would either be standing over her kind of awkwardly to the side Or they would be looking for another chair to pull up And so because they have a pretty intimate connection and they work together a lot She thought that it was absolutely fantastic that her mentor was able to sit so close to her And then lastly She absolutely loved being at the middle of the table like just we we sat there with a bunch of other people as well And she was just beaming like seeing her smile and being able to provide her with that experience Felt really good and she really raved about it So I was proud that we were able to kind of be a part of that and inspire such a positive reaction So this is the video of savannah rolling into the table as you can see The armrest goes beneath and the controller goes right above and then Yeah right there and then she's very close to the table and can have full mobility reaching anything she needs to get to And then this slide is video of as we were saying Everybody around the table with two with two people in wheelchairs in the center of it And so they're in the middle of conversation up Up front in the center and they're not feeling marginalized or as an afterthought put on the end of the table So that's a big deal for them And then this video shows the maximum capacity of the table, which is 16 people And so there's still a good amount of room each side like shawna never sitting there with everybody And you can still get your arms out put your elbows on the table and stuff like that reach out get the potato salad in the middle you know Yeah, and so living in california on the central coast a big part of our culture being outside with picnics and barbecues So being able to create a product like this where there's So many people just being able to come and congregate and have a good time It's a really good feeling to be able to create something like that So what makes our removal seat so easy and intuitive is the implementation of our channel locking pin system Our proprietary pin system design that you can see behind me Allows the seat to be locked in or unlocked with the simple pusher pull of a pin When the seats aren't being used Pull the pin lift it up and you can dispose of it and wheelchair access But if the no new wheelchair access is needed the seat can be reapplied push the pins into place and It's there for the users The channels that are routed out in the sides of the support system Allow the seat to be placed back flawlessly every time So there's no error when replacing a seat And then here's a picture we decided to attach the pin to the board itself so that it couldn't be lost or misplaced So that because it's attached it's always there So the videos you're about to see are the removal and replacement of the seats So as you can see in the video pull the pin lift up take the seat away And then when you're when the need should arise to have the seat back in place Drop it in channel lines it up push the pin back in place and it locks into place Now it's just as easy with one person pull the pin lift up And the wheelchair access is available Putting it back the channel lines it up Push the pins back into place and it locks it securely in place So in this design right here our custom bracket tree is the main support of the table So we have four support system on either side that come in and converge at one point And so we have brackets locking them in place with bolts running through them And so once you lock it in there's no movement whatsoever And then the top as you can see in the bottom picture There's only on one side so that the top can sit flat and there's no bumps or anything once you put the top on So then our prototype that we made the first thing we did was very crucial to our design because we noticed a couple minor flaws in the comfortability of it So first off was the seat height So originally it was a little bit too high So we had some short people sit on it and the legs would kind of dangle a little bit It wasn't very comfortable at all. And so we lowered that a little bit which created more vertical Room between the seat and the tabletop And we also changed our leg angle to push the table in more which created more linear space so it's just easier to get into And then we also put a four by four through the middle of the bracket which pushed everything four inches wider So just created more room around the table overall Great picture of our prototype with black spray paint and looks terrible I think that's the point of prototypes right here Yeah, so it was really important to for us to design a table that not only looked good function well But would stand the test of time So when we went to build the table for the preschool We immediately chose redwood because it's a resilient wood. Um, but that wasn't quite enough for us. So we applied a Waterproof deck stain that would keep water out moisture out Allow no degradation of the wood whatsoever We also made sure that any exposed metal was either galvanized powder coated or zinc We also added steel stainless steel pins And stainless steel bushings around the pins so that The pins would not get in locked place because when we had the prototype one of the biggest problem was when the wood got wet It would clamp down on the pin allowing the seat not to be removed because the pin would be stationary So further refining refining the design we added an umbrella hole and then Rounded out the corners of the table so that if it were to be hit it would not Do any damage or it would be Minimal damage to the person who ended up hitting it We also epoxied the bottom of the feet and the channels in which the seat drops into place so that The we poxied the bottom of the feet so that no water would get sucked up into the table And then we poxied the channel so that When replacing and removing the seat it wouldn't mess up that channel all at all So we had a perfect fit up every time Just increased the durability And then kind of our final steps moving forward Is we're looking to create a tiered product system one of the drawbacks of redwood It looks fantastic and it lasts a long time, but it costs a lot It's very expensive and so when we're selling this product a lot of the wineries will stumble at the cost It's it's a lot So we're currently in the process of making another model out of douglas firwood And because of the wood is not quite as strong as the redwood We're having to use other finishing processes Polyurethane and things like that to seal it up which do take significantly longer So it does take longer to build but we're actually able to drop the price By more than half by changing woods. So we're experimenting with different woods to Kind of create a tiered product system and then we're looking to identify specific locations Like specific wineries and target them with the material bring the information to them about what we have available And kind of let them know what we can do for them So thank you guys for your time, uh, and we'll take any questions if you have So you're guys going to college next or you're just going to We're looking to try and capitalize as much as we can this summer Yeah, definitely over summer. That's great. Congratulations on that. Um question on the On the size of table you chose it looked like you zeroed down on this very large Artigan table at the very beginning What led you to that decision and did you look at any other options 88 compliance? Well, so 88 compliance is a part because like you said, there's a relatively large area of space So you have to fit in and so if you're going to fit it on Both sides of the table it necessitates it kind of being wide But another reason was the This project was brought to us by a preschool and I think we said at the beginning the The preschool wanted to be able to sit an entire class of preschoolers and 25 kids at the same table And so that was because that's kind of how the product the sorry the product That's how it began That's kind of where we followed up and then it ended up kind of moving towards that outdoor seating at wineries That could also use a large number of people Might be a nice thing to look at in the future. It's different. Yeah, that is something We're exploring right now as a smaller version of the table because that is feedback that we've gone from the wineries Is that they don't necessarily need such a big table? But they have loved our design and loved the pin system and the removable seats They definitely think it's something of value. So we are currently messing with cad Our cad programs to find a way to make a smaller table, but still implement that channel locking pin system The the model that we've been working with mostly has been just a rectangular one kind of looks similar, but A rectangle and that allows it to get shorter and skinnier because instead of four supports going out You just have to that makes a little more manageable One of the things that I really admire about your solution is its flexibility That it allows for a kind of invisible Multi-use situation, which I think is super super smart that you don't have the this is the table for the handicap people situation and that points to The thing that I think is actually exceptional about your solution Which is it not only solves a very specific problem, but it also points to and kind of embodies a culture change Right of bringing people with physical handicaps Literally into the center and demarginalizing them physically that points to a An impulse towards inclusivity And and focus that I think is a super important part of the kinds of dialogue that we're trying to have with Exhibitions like you guys are having right now and just this whole kind of project overall. So congratulations. I think that's really compelling Yeah, yeah I must say I think that uh I think that uh, yeah, your solution was was pretty awesome I remember so my first thoughts when I looked at it. I was like, oh, it's a picnic table You know I'm saying like but then like when I saw like the samples and like the pieces and I'm just like Oh, this is actually pretty simple and genius. This is like It's almost like, you know, like you could make a table yourself or you could just like On the patents for the pen and just talk to bench makers who already make benches You know We're exploring too. I think Sean has a connection to someone who might be willing to Buy or at least work with a patent Yeah, where they would be they would be the ones producing it and not us But when we were designing the product of the pen system, it was definitely important for us to for it to be easy and very Easily understood and some yeah, very intuitive Yeah, and the only thing the only thing I think uh, and and you know, you you guys probably would need a bit more work on this But like I think that there's a lot of opportunity to do something with the seat when it's not on the table And right now it just kind of looks like it's like Yeah, we we throw it away Period of time we messed around with making it like a booster seat. Yeah another part of the table Um, but we've ran into other complications that we're trying to figure out before we Dedicated for one thing also you can't fit it in the middle So like right kind of there I don't we're standing away You can't see but basically there's the bottom and top support structures And so you can take the seats and they both stack under the middle of the table But that wasn't really working either because I mean we can get in there and stack them easily But we're relatively young agile people. So, you know, we're not the ones working It's a little bit more difficult to get it in there. So that's a great point Yeah, exactly. Um, and then um, was there anything else? Yeah, all in all, I think that like uh Uh, to my point, I think that there was a very wonderful part about the fact that It wasn't you know, because like we get this all the time from blind people is that blind people don't want to wear a device That's like you're wearing the blind device You know, it's like it's actually a big proponent for why It takes so long for people to start using their white canes It's because they don't want to be seen as blind and if they have some functional vision They'll just opt out of that experience until they can't anymore. And so The fact that you know, like the table kind of like is a regular table and all means very beautiful regular table And then like all of a sudden this magic kind of unfolds when you need it Is is is a is a really beautiful part of it and then to your point as well about the being in the center Because I think like uh, I think that like people with disabilities is it's easy to to marginalize them because You might not understand how to interact with them best You know, like so you're talking with a blind person You don't know how much of you they can see unless you have those conversations Which are very personal conversations usually to have and so By putting a person almost kind of at the center you kind of construct ways for that dialogue to occur kind of naturally and I think that's a really beautiful part of the solution So really really good job on the and engineering looks great that that joint looks crazy. I don't know It's incredibly rigid I wanted to add the level of prototyping You guys said was really impressive the fact that you have a functional works like and looks like model Is really convincing and just feels like it's ready to go Yeah, we did actually deliver it to that preschool. Um a couple months back. It was just amazing after austin Amazing and yeah, the kids so far. I've loved it. Everything's still working great. So awesome Yeah to build on sort of Keith and mike's point about the Inclusivity of this. I actually think it's universally even maybe better as a picnic table for everyone It's a really like conversational form factor that maybe is better as a picnic table for non non hearing hearing impaired handicap users Um, I was curious about use cases besides like a picnic setting first I'm really jealous that most of the use cases around you are wineries I Really wish I lived in San Luis Obispo at this point But um, it made me think about like lunch rooms in schools and other places where people are eating So we've thought about like state parks too where you need to have benches that are secured So people don't let's take off and walk away, you know And so like right now we're building one for Sean's parents. They're paying us to but to build the cheaper one So it's going to go in their backyard when then after mentor week in one of the Areas that he wanted us to explore was Different aesthetics to the table like maybe one with like a concrete top and an aluminum Subframe that could fit different venues. Um, because the redwood though it does complement a lot of Areas nicely it is kind of a specific outdoorsy type look You wouldn't put this Yeah, you know, yeah, it doesn't really work super well inside Yeah, so uh, if we were going to experiment with other more modern even looking venues We've looked at some other material options to as far as functionality other than the wheel treks disability I know one of my dad's friends who's a camper Um Removed the seat and like the fact that he could stand at the table top like if he was cooking or something Then he didn't have to like at uh campsites or something where the seat is attached He has to lean over the bench part of the seat to Like get to his barbecue or something and having that open area where he can walk in and maneuver Was definitely something that he found very appealing I would add just a couple other thoughts one is I think often the best designs have this sense of inevitability and surprise And I think that there is evidence of that in what you've done because it does have that sense of inevitability But then there is that sort of joyful degree of understanding in terms of what it could actually Mean to a group of people who felt that they've actually been left off You know to the side literally and figuratively the point about being in the middle Symbolically and emotionally I think is is so important in terms of the cultural statement that it can make When I think though about like you true user experience The one area that I would be curious to learn more about in terms of your process Is if you ever studied dining room tables or other tables where the leaf in the table is actually Designed to come in or come out or or fold Because for me even though I love the the ease of the pin system I would say two things one the symbolism of taking the seat and and putting it somewhere Versus the idea of Some manner of it folding or folding under kind of like in this really kind of integrated way that has a An equal degree of respect and ease rather than it feeling as though The process of having to do it even though it is really easy to take away and replace The feeling that you would have By being the person in the wheelchair. I think would change Versus if it had this integrated ability to just Be incorporated into the design and I know you talked about just the practicality of the slabs themselves But I wonder if there's just further prototyping or experimenting that you can do From that gesture because I think you've come so far, but I think there's there's a degree of Exploration in terms of its its integration that I think might be Useful to consider. Yeah, definitely on that point. I think the fact that this requires like Personnel to come and remove that seat if there's some way that the people Could do it themselves in a wheelchair could remove the seat by themselves Yeah That's another reason why wineries have been an excellent target for us is because often there are going to be personnel there who can Help aid with that But I think that's an excellent point about the self-sufficiency and kind of just you know, there are other ways to accomplish Things with different designs First of all, I echo all of the comments here that It's a wonderful design. I love that it's also It's so it's beautiful many times when we design things to accommodate people With disabilities the aesthetics are, you know, it drops the level But on that point of also making it easier to put away and allow the person who's in the wheelchair To initiate and do that I think it would also be important I would encourage you to consider people with limited dexterity as well Because like the pin might be difficult difficult for them to pull out But it's also a little bit bigger handle I think get their full hand Have a bigger hand, yes, exactly Yeah, but I also think that like To the point of everyone else, but that like Could you guys approach this from a very kind of like engineering point of view? Definitely So like I feel like one industrial designer in your team It's like that's what we do as furniture, you know So it's like I feel like that would open up like with the prototyping skills that you have to kind of build out These models that work really well and like someone who like, you know Or for yourself to like dig a bit deeper into furniture design And there's tons of research on it that you can kind of pull up, you know, like um But I think that might kind of like start to set the standard for like What types of things you might really be able to do with it? And I agree. I like the idea of like somehow the thing folding out or Because even when even when a regular person is sitting on a bench Like I got to do that thing where I like jump in like the dupe's a hazard into the window That's so you know like my grandma can't do that prototype The seat and the tabletop were almost like vertically aligned and so to get into it was definitely Reminiscent of that so but Now something that was super beneficial of actually building it like the CAD program did not show us that whatsoever You can't jump into your into your CAD program and then when we actually built it was like a this needs to change Like this this has to change Of engineering and construction. Can you talk a little bit about how you got there and what you learned? Like we won national prizes for our metal shop and Our wood shop is just phenomenal. We have like pretty much all the tools we have and Our teachers have been really supportive our whole endeavor here, too The support is just endless with them Like he uh, mr. B our teacher actually supplied us with the materials and all the tools to Create our prototype and then our final product So without him and without the resources of our school and even our metal shop teacher It just would not have been possible Yeah, like like he said we have access to a lot of also unique things that a lot of schools don't have access to Like the brackets are cut on a plasma cutter. That's not something that's in commonly in most shops So, uh, I would say that we've been blessed with you know the graces of an excellent shop Like I'm you know, I'm going to college and I chose the college because it's the only one out of everywhere I got in that has something comparable and that's something that I'm you know, don't really want to leave So we've been blessed for sure Hello everybody, I am Todd waterberry chief creative officer from target And really pleased to be here with all of you today We had an intense An inspiring conversation. So I'm sure that many of you are wondering Are they going to bring us in at some point? Have they forgotten about us? We have not forgotten about you in fact all the work that we saw had such a deep profound effect on on each of us in terms of what the challenge actually stood for and Very excited to share the fact that we have a winner Wanted to talk a little bit first about what each one of the entries meant for all of us and Caroline asked me to say a couple of words I think I'll start with the first one go in the order that they were presented to understand the importance of mark making And to understand the importance of creating tools for people who are site challenge to be able to express themselves And to be able to find a way To represent what they're feeling what they want to communicate But in new ways was something that was really inspiring to us about the first century the second was the idea of being able to generate a level of Connection and comfort out in the world where many people who are hearing challenged May feel as though they are disconnected from the ability to make the right choices at the right moment That idea for us had tremendous potential because of the scale of the impact that could take place in culture and knowing about how Much the device that we walk around with really is the remote control of our lives and being able to integrate something in that For us was really inspiring And for the third It's it's hard to deny when you actually look at the design that was proposed the meaning of it in terms of symbolism relative to inclusivity and being able to make it very easy for people to be included in A conversation and a meal no matter what their ability or their their challenged ability And for the third it was really important for us to understand that that design actually elevated The standard of what it meant to be together and to be outside So there are many things about each of the three that we we loved and we had Healthy healthy debate about which one rose to the point that we wanted to recognize For process for the prototype and for the potential of what it means in terms of design and the competition So i'm going to give that to carolin bowman Good afternoon everyone. Hello parents. I'm sure you were biting your nails in the design studio But most of all you should be so proud You know, we really had a tough time choosing between these three fantastic projects Thank you so much students for your stellar presentation presentations Our real mission here is to inspire educate and empower but you have inspired us you have empowered us And you've given us great optimism for the future with all three cases So all of you are winners and remember that over a thousand students Worked towards this competition. That's pretty amazing that there are seven of you standing here, right? so bravo bravo bravo And i'm very excited to announce that the winner today is art share Emily and natasha Congratulations And remember we will be sharing all three presentations at cooper here, which is just fantastic And then you'll be joining us for a national design week So we're very proud of all of you and i hope you have enjoyed this experience immensely So congratulations students congratulations parents and thank you jurors Thank you target