Zensense is a concept for a product that could help with the loneliness felt by seafarers. Seafarers often experience unhealthy levels of isolation while they are away from home. While it is common for people in this industry to miss their homes, friends, families, pets, and more, there are very few products available to help. Zensense explores the five senses and their roles in providing seafarers with comfort.
We visited several locations to collect survey answers from 38 seafarers. Based on these survey questions, we decided that our target audience should include seafarers, ages 16 - 40, and that the majority experiences loneliness a few times a week.
From these survey questions, we learned that the majority of people have difficulty sleeping when they are feeling lonely. Other survey responses indicate that night time is in fact, the most common time for seafarers to experience loneliness.
We also learned that seafarers find the sense of touch the most comforting. Interestingly, no one was the most comforted by the sense of taste.
Survey participants listed activities they would do to stimulate each sense when they were in need of comfort.
We also conducted interviews with seafarers to learn more about their individual struggles and coping strategies when they are experiencing loneliness.
We also conducted interviews with seafarers to learn more about their individual struggles and coping strategies when they are experiencing loneliness.
We had the opportunity to learn what life is like as a seafarer on a Navy ship and also on a container ship. This was very interesting, as we were able to compare different environments for seafarers and learn about the different levels of space and privacy on each of these ships.
Next, we visited CANEX—a military surplus store. We found hand massagers, sound machines, and video games. These were the only available products designed to stimulate the senses.
We searched online for examples of products that inspired us, as well as product designs that we wanted to avoid. We established that we did not want our product to include any human features as we did not want to design a disturbing or humorous product. Instead, we aimed for our design to be formed organically and as a result of its function. Pregnancy pillows were our main inspiration for comfort. We also found inspiration for other features in the Funktionide pillow and Somnox Sleep Robot.
We also found inspiration in products and techniques used for dogs that experience anxiety. This involves applying pressure to certain parts of the body to allow stress relief. This reminded us of something we found in our initial stages of research—many people are comforted by the pressure of a hug.
We developed the form using a doll and modelling clay. We also put together a list of features we hoped to include. We realized that some of our ideas were unrealistic for our prototype, but most of them were within our capabilities.
After collecting materials, we began constructing our prototype. We filled the "wings" of Zensense with sandbags. These would rest on the pressure points of the body to relax the user during periods of stress. This is similar to the way a weighted blanket works, but the weight is distributed more strategically.
We used soft fabrics to provide additional comfort. We chose the colour blue to symbolize calmness and yellow to symbolize happiness.
The weighted "wings" stimulate the sense of touch, lights stimulate the sense of sight, voice recorders stimulate the sense of hearing, and scent pads stimulate the sense of smell. This covers all of the senses except for taste—the one sense that none of the survey participants chose to stimulate for comfort.
Essential oils or perfumes can be applied to the removable cotton scent pads, and can be tossed into a washing machine when needed.
Ideally, the light display would have a softer glow and have colour changing controls.
Our final prototype turned out to be bulkier than expected. It became clear to us that using less stuffing and thinner materials would be helpful in further developing this product. If a second prototype was made, designing a more compact and portable version would be the first priority.
