Glow
Glow - An interactive handrail that emits light when in use, providing a safer journey for multiple generations on stairways.
Glow was designed from the 2020/21 RSA student design award brief titled ‘Home Sweet Home’.
This project was severely affected by Covid-19 which caused great difficulty for myself and my project partner to gain direct user feedback.
The purpose of Glow is to address the following insights that we discovered through our primary research:
Stairways in Irish homes are poorly lit for anyone with visual impairments.
Assistive installations in homes generally have non attractive aesthetics.
Products in a home should be easily repairable to allow a long lifespan.
Research:
We conducted interviews with multiple users from our families due to Covid-19 restrictions. From these we were able to develop glow through various feedback sessions.
Development:
With very little access to workshop facilities we had to conduct the development process from our homes. This resulted in using 3D printing as our main source for prototyping.
From these 3D printed models we were able to get direct feedback from users in our homes.
One of the key features of Glow is that it is designed to be disassembled. This allows for easy repairability and maintenance.
Glow is activated by a capacitive sensor that is placed along the top of the rail. This means that when it will only activate when in use which will provide a necessary clear view of the stairs for all users.
On either end of the rail are end caps. These contain a dim circular light which will give an indication to the user where the handrail begins and ends under very low light conditions.
