Auspicious Kylin
Robots enhance mobility of geriatric people in Chinese aging society
Overview
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Introduction
This is my major project of my bachelor program in industrial design. The average lifetime has been prolonged because of economical development in China, which reveals that Chinese society has gradually stepped into the aging process. In this project I tried to integrate product, service and system design by proposing a product-service concept for the aging people utilising robotisation and artificial intelligence.
Research Question
How could robot and technology contribute to geriatric people in contemporary Chinese society with innovation?
Research
Background
The background research includes a series of literature review, case study and observations. This step aimed to compare different modes of aged caring services in different countries and then seek potential trend according to Chinese situation and cultural background.
According to Chinese situation, more and more young people left their hometown for career opportunities, which results in more and more empty nest elderly. Therefore the direction of Chinese senior living communities should be similar with Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in the future. In this community, the zoning should fix different requirement with different service, staffs and facilities, as per different elderly groups, namely self-caring, nursed aged, and disabled aged. Also, an elderly community center is also necessary for their social requirement and activities against loneliness and chronic diseases.
User Need Analysis
As per the conclusion of background research, I analysed potential functions based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and then accessed potential functions according to different elderly groups as preparation for further ideation phase.
The statistics shows that the self-caring and nursed aged groups have similar needs in intermediate and high level, hence it inspired me that if I focus on intermediate and high level of needs I can cover a broad target group.
Ideation
Sketch Evolution
Initial Concept
Initially I came up with 3 concepts according to different elderly groups, however, I decided to combine the concept of nursed aged and self-caring to fix intermediate and high level of needs as per user need analysis.
Mobility Scooter & Robot
The secondary concept is a combination of scooter and robot. It could be rented in the senior living community at multiple rental stops, which could be also used as charging spots. Important considerations were discussed below.
Distance of activities: near from residence less than 2km
Travel purpose: go shopping, breathing fresh air, go for a walk
Expectation: comfortable, security, portability
Current touch point: automatic enfoldment and following the users for apartment with lift
Touch point 3-5 years later: the GPS technology and the driving record system in it are connected with service center via Internet, it offers first-aid when emergency occurs.
Technical Criteria
This step discussed how could this product be regarded as an artificial intelligence but not a machine and why it should have a familiar appearance like a normal product for elderly in their daily life.
3D Modelling
Prototype
Size - Unit: mm
To determine the final size of the product, I researched Chinese average stature in 34 provinces. The height of the seat can be tuned to fix a human 148-180 meters tall easily.
