Overview
In places like Houston, where temperatures reach above 90° regularly, people are often constrained to air-conditioned indoor activities. Urban Chill Stop proposes a new way to make being outdoors more fun and pleasant. And by incorporating solar energy and motion-sensing switches, it raises public awareness of sustainability issues.
MY ROLE
This project was developed during my junior year industrial design program in college. I started from defining users and scenarios by going on numerous field trips around Houston. After finding the right human-machine iteraction model, I went through many iterations of form-finding, as the project is partly sculptural in nature. What I am most proud of though, was the energy-saving, self-sustaining, interactive system that I designed.
CHALLENGES
The scope of the project covered ethnographic research, interaction design, installation design, and fabrication. I was able to quickly pivot after crucial findings, while making sure the core product vision was never compromised. However, because of time and budget limit, I could not build a prototype for full-scale user testing. It remains a goal of mine to bring this product to real life one day.
Research
I chose Houston Zoo as my primary research location, for its concentration of people and outdoor activities.
There were two main cooling methods: mist fans, and water playgrounds. Cooling stations like these also attracted social interactions, and that was what I was hoping to build, so I decided to adapt these elements in my design.
Design
The system is largely self-reliant in energy consumption. It uses solar energy collected from the solar panel to power the machineries. And it uses water mist as a natural cooling agent. The mechanisms were encased in a sculptural interface that's natural for public interaction.
I wanted to design a "place", where people go for both cooling and social gathering. I explored different forms (seat, pipe, chamber, etc.) After many iterations, I decided on a wind surface, which seemed most inclusive and economic to build.
In order to save energy, the fans use motion sensors, and only turn on when people approach them.
