Multimodal Physical Prototype Design: Uniting families during COVID-19 with hospitalized loved ones through CareLink

Our team, Total Modal, convened mid-September 2020 with a mission. We aimed to design a multimodal experience that supports those users who are isolated, especially in this increasingly isolating time of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that creates for them a feeling of connectedness.

Through our device, the CareLink, both those hospitalized and their loved ones are able to communicate in multiple modalities, nurturing a sense of closeness and connection despite their physical distance.

Introduction

People who are hospitalized can be isolated from their families and loved ones, and because of limited communication, suffer from a lack of physical and emotional connection. Similarly, families experience the difficulty of isolation while feeling concerned about their loved ones’ healing. This is an ongoing problem that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our design pays particular attention to older users who may be battling serious conditions, feeling weak, and potentially approaching the end of their lives. For those patients who are receiving curative care and are expected to soon or eventually return to their families, the devices allow communication that eases the stress of distance and isolation for both parties and lessens the strain of such isolation on the health of patients. For those patients who are receiving palliative care and are approaching death, the devices may allow some of the final communication between patients and their families - especially given the current conditions of hospitals, in which visitors are not often allowed. This end-of-life period can cause even more stress and fear than would a disease and hospitalization for a younger person, and so connection and communication are even more critical and cherished for such patients and their families. Additionally, due to our target persona and the visual impairments they may be facing, as well as the emotional aspect of touch, we aimed to create a device that does not solely focus on visual features but is multimodal.

The team identified the problem space by converging individual prototype ideas, storyboards, and functional and morphological chart diagrams. We observed a common theme: a focus on facilitating communication between isolated medical patients and their families and loved ones. Centering around this theme, the team began a design process of sketching and combining ideas and diagrams, developing paper and eventually physical prototypes, and iterating towards a functional and usable design. We researched various devices that included some common functionality with our ideas, and our morphological chart (Appendix B) helped us to think through various possible components. One notable component we explored was a device that would glow and light up to show warmth and presence, similar to the “friendship lights” we found available through local online retailers. Ultimately, we decided to focus on other modalities and less on the visual space to make the device more accessible to the population most affected by COVID-19.

This project was completed as part of my graduate studies at Bentley University with teammates Aaron Wang, Yo Deshpande, and Desmond Fang.