Sidekick for children with asthma
For young children suffering from asthma it can be pretty difficult to deal with continually changing symptoms. They often do not notice the first signs of deterioration. Parents are in the dark and doctors lack objective data to evaluate the effect of treatment. App.Oe changes all this. App.Oe is a sidekick that helps these children to control their symptoms like real ninjas! App.Oe consists of a clever sleeveless shirt that registers tightness of the chest during sleep and translates the data into clear feedback in an attractive app. Nightly symptoms are generally pretty good predictors of an asthma attack, but are often not noticed.
Empowerment for ninjas
Panton took on the challenge of helping children with asthma to manage their own symptoms. During this project, 'Empowering people' was given this interpretation: 'Empowering children with asthma to become ninja's mastering their own care'.
From interviews with children, parents and doctors it became apparent that more insight into symptoms is sorely needed for them to react quickly and adequately. This gave rise to the idea of developing a shirt that registers symptoms during the night and provides feedback during the day.
Co-creation
An exciting design process followed in which a comfortable design for the shirt was sought together with children. Prototypes for the shirt in all kinds of fits (shapes), sizes and fabrics were tested by the children. In addition, the children contributed ideas about the interactions with the app. Thus, a cheerful ninja app became the face of the app.
sEMG Technology
The shirt uses sEMG technology by means of smart electrodes in the shirt. An amplifier in the shirt is wirelessly connected to the app. A first prototype was developed in collaboration with ItoM and further development steps are currently being taken.
Luca student award
App.Oe started as Beatrijs van Hoof's graduation project and was awarded a Luca Student Award. Beatrijs is now working as a designer at Panton. The company Asthmaware was created to develop app.oe further. Have a look at the website of Asthmaware.
