reen
industrial design • UIUX design • smart accessory
Reen is…
a device that aims to keep users away from potential danger. Reen is connected to the user’s phone, allowing it to call for help the instant anything happened and at the same time collect evidence by recording audio. Reen lets its users call for rescue in stages secretly, silently, in just moves of a finger.
How it Works
Breaking Down In Stages
Help is only one button-press away.
Process
Interview
& Survey
To understand what people think about crime and safety, we conducted interviews and we sent out online surveys. It was intriguing how people’s kindness of not wanting to bother others made them hesistant to call for help unless something actually happenned.
The Jump-Scare Test
Mocking up a sketchy scene
To understand users’ reactions in a dangerous situation, we set up a TV booth to simulate the scenario of walking in a dark alley at night. We had also set up an Arduino circuit and asked people to hold onto the board during the test. Our hypothesis is that people would clench their fists or want to grab on something when they get nervous; the red light in the circuit will light up when the button sensors pressure. Some people would hold the panel really tight, and some people were constantly pressing the button.
Interview with Stakeholders,
Police Officers
There are three groups of people involved in any safety-related incidents: victims, authorities, and criminals. Therefore, we thought authorities or police officers could potentially be involved in our system too. To understand the possibilities of that, and to learn more about the police perspective we interviewed several officers. Police authoroties were also the people who have had direct contact with perpetrators. They helped up clarify some confusions we had, and provided very insightful suggestions on our design.
Research Conclusion
Product Specifications
Waterproof
Considering daily wear, the ring is made waterproof so users wouldn’t have to take the ring off in any situation what so ever.
Wireless Charging
The ring is compatible with wireless charging, which means there is no charging port on the product itself, so its form can stay intact.
Technological Components
The top side is thicker to fit batteries and modules. The wireless charging coil and circuit board wrap all the way around in the ring.
Team
This is a partner project with Andy Cheng. Some work was done remotely while I was in Providence and Andy was in Tainan. Andy took the leading role in hardware development while I focused more on the interface.
Notes
The technical aspects of this project still need more validation. What was shown was a presentation of how we envision the product to work based on our research and understanding of technology. I would love to hear suggestions from you especially about the technical things and part arrangments!