This project was the culmination of 2 years of explorations through my graduate program. After careful analysis of my feedback, interviews, and personal reflection, I began to notice a common thread throughout my studies. My project was about communicating the unspoken, being a voice for cancer patients in a way that wasn’t available to them. I began to explore this in more depth and heard numerous stories about the emotional burdens and verbal barriers that prevented people from communicating with their own loved ones battling cancer. From that point my project became about breaking down those barriers, attempting to eliminate any hurdles that were preventing communication.
This project was very deeply personal for me. In April of 1998, at the age of 9, I was diagnosed with Leukemia, and this project was conceived as a reconciliation of that trauma. Halfway into my graduate program, in April of 2018, my cousin was diagnosed with the same form of Leukemia at 30 years of age. I knew then that this project was bigger than me… Moving forward I dedicated the project to her battle and to all others battling their own cancers, going through these same struggles.
Our medical system, it seems, has become increasingly proficient at healing physical wounds, but oftentimes overlooks the emotional scars that come with them. This was the battle I wanted to help fight, the battle that doesn’t end in remission, the battle I’m still fighting myself.
This is an imagined example of what I mean by “emotional barriers.” A loved one reaches out and doesn’t hear back. They catch the patient at a bad time or they don’t have the strength or willpower to reach out. Eventually the one-sided conversation begins to weigh on the psyche of the person and they stop reaching out, for fear of bothering the patient. Simultaneously, the patient feels a fear of burdening loved ones with their problems and avoids reaching out as well.
Apple’s iMessage is a prime example of how technology can simulate presence. Interviewed users cited the excitement and intimacy of seeing this symbol appear, which signifies that the other user is actively typing. This inspired me to try to replicate this feeling, the idea of communicating presence without the necessity of any words or actual physical proximity.
I began experimenting with the psychological effects of communicating with just lights. I programmed a simple system in Arduino and connected testers to have them use it for a few hours per day. All of them communicated excitement and positive emotion associated with someone thinking of them.
After a successful initial experiment, it was time to have my cousin test it. I set the device up in her apartment and connected her best friend to one button and her sister to the other.
SMS review from my cousin
SMS review from my cousin’s best friend
I feel the results spoke for themselves…
The form study led to this final version of the device. The five sides represented the accepted understanding that in times of crisis, our brain only cares to connect with our five closest individuals. Each wall connects the patient to one of their loved ones’ phones who in turn communicate with the object through a simple app interface. Signals sent through the phone light up the loved one’s designated color, communicating presence and thought without the need and social burden of a text message or phone call.