THE DESIGN PROCESS
INSPIRATION
The inspiration behind "Airgills" started from the inconvenience of having to experience ear pain when flying. Often than not, individuals with sensitive ears have to resort to using ear plugs when taking off and when landing to minimise the pain in their ears. This prevents them from being able to enjoy their in - flight movie experience and brings inconvenience. Thus the idea of combining both the earplug element to a earpiece.
THE QUESTION IS HOW?
Through biomimicry! After exploring a few mechanical aspects and forms of nature, I came across the amazing discovery of a fish bladder expanding when there is an increase in pressure.
DESIGN STATEMENT:
Redesigning earpiece so that the cushion expands when there is a change in air pressure to act like earplug
INITIAL SKETCHES
Problems faced:
=> May not be comfortable for the user
=> May create a vacuum that may cause pain to the user’s ears (Doesn’t help to solve the issue)
=> Might create a mark on the outlines of the ears
=> May not be able to stick to the skin around the ear due to hair
=> Only limited to ear plugs?
Actions moving forward:
=> Small enough to fit inside the ears canal
=> Expands to act like ear plugs
Selling point?
Allows users of all ages to watch movies or listen to music while flying and have their ears protected in flight
(Can pump up the earpiece so that it becomes a earplug when there is a change in air pressure)
MINDMAP: WHO, WHAT , WHERE
FORM EXPLORATION: Experimenting through exploring ear sizes
I explored the sizes of the ears with individuals from different age groups varying from age 7 to 49
WHAT WERE MY FINDINGS?
The size of the ears is not dependent on age an based on a few exploration, the size of an average ear is around 11-13cm
Next point to note: ERGONOMICS + HOW IT WORKS
- Hooking Designs
- The use of impellers?
- The use of pumps?
SKETCHES
MOODBOARD ON THE STYLE
DYNAMIC. SLEEK. STYLISH. FUTURISTIC.
SKETCHES ON FORM
MECHANISM EXPLORATION:
How does the bladder of the fish expands?
Exploration of the prototypes and mechanism
How the expanded silicone fits in the ear canal
The mechanism is inspired by the expansion of the fish bladder which is similar to that of an expansion of a balloon to fit the size of the ear canals. To expand any balloon, a pump is needed. Here, a pump can be made with any object auch as a syringe as long as there is a made shift upper valve and a side valve to release the air and allow the air to exit respectively
The gear sketched in the picture shows how the roller can be spun to push and pull the piston to pump the balloon. The video shows how the balloon or silicone expands which aims to fit the ear canal.
CAD & RENDERINGS OF 3D MODEL:
Final Look before rendering
Exploring different forms
Trying out the colours
Final look
Checking the size and ergonomics
These are a few screenshots I took where I explored and checked to see if the model is comfortable for the ears and explored the overall aesthetics of the earpiece, especially the colours of the lights from the earpiece