Project Lila

Lila

Focus points:

  • Research
  • Prototyping
  • User testing

  • Project goal

    Severe hearing loss is associated with self-reported communication difficulties (Dalton et al., 2003). Elderly with sensory loss found it easier to withdraw from communication situations than face the embarrassment of frequently misunderstanding conversation or responding inappropriately (Hull, 1992). The goal of this project was to design a family of products that aims to support people with hearing loss during social-communicative activities at the dinner table.

  • Client

    Eriksholm Research Centre was the client for this project. Eriksholm Research Centre focuses on three themes: social hearing science, cognitive hearing science and augmented hearing science. They aim to create a deep understanding of the real-life implications of hearing loss and gauge the impact of ideas with real people in their everyday lives. (“Eriksholm Research Centre”, 2019)

  • Process

    This project started with in-depth research in the form of interviews with design probes. To explore some design directions for enhancing the hearing experience, we conducted a test with several peers, where we studied lipreading, vibration and light colour. In two iterations, we created a smart light bulb, controller and complementary game. The prototype was tested during a deployment test with potential users.

  • My role

    For this project, I was the representative person for the user participants, which means that I took care of all communication and arrangements. Furthermore, I contributed to the development of the prototypes.

  • Final design

    A smart LED light bulb forms the core of the family of products. The intensity and colour temperature of the light reacts to the clarity of speech, in combination with sound effects as augmented feedback. We designed a complimentary game kit, which forms a playful training tool with a focus on clarity of speech. It supports the user in improving their speaking skills over time by training the articulation.

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