Hermit gives you a private space to nap on your desk

Posted on Tuesday, January 26 2010 @ 17:48 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Australian Design Science student Kerry Jia Yi Lin shows off her Hermit concept, an experimental interactive shell that creates some private space to hide in with your laptop or take a nap. The Hermit features servomotors to automatically close and cover when the user overlaps his/her arms and bends over the tablet, and comes with flashy LED lamps to indicate the status of the user. A green light means "free to disturb", while red means something like "leave me alone". More info over here.
The Hermit is an experimental interactive shell, provides people a private space to hide or take a nap. The idea comes from my imagination. I was working in the lab and workshop in the University, when I felt tired, I wanted to transform into a hermit crab or snail and hide inside the shell to have a rest. Therefore the kinetic shell is designed for using in the sharing space with table and chair. The shell will be placed on the table along the edge. When user sits on the chair, overlaps his/her arms and bends over the table, the hemispheroidal Hermit will close and cover the user. Remote controls are hidden inside the accessories which are cuffs and glove. Though a simple gesture, user can control the shell to open and close. And also LEDs installs on both sides of the shell as the indicator light/signal lamp to present the situation of the user. The Green light means that is fine to interrupt, but the Red light is similar to a caution light telling ‘do not interrupt’. User can select these situations by using the glove.

The shell is a half hermetic space which the case is made by the fabrics (deep blue gauze & gray felt), and the frame is built up by the plastic sheet, screws, nuts and wires. The shape and pattern design of Hermit is inspired from the Nautilus which is one kind of the shell with amazing interior structure and the beautiful appearance. The deep blue wave pattern on the case is not only for aesthetics, but also lightens the weight of the case. If the fabrics are too heavy, it will bend the structure of the frames. The original design is having another layer (curtain) on top of the deep blue gauze part. The microphone is used as an input to collect the ambient sound. If the noise from the surrounding is too loud, the curtain will pull down automatically. Otherwise, the curtain will stay in the open position in the quiet space. User still can control the curtain by using the cuff. However the microphone works not really well, cancel this function at this stage, leave it for the future development.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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