This is the device that would be given to a patient at diagnosis. Each wall of the device corresponds to a different person, one of their five most intimate contacts, and would communicate via color using the touch sensors behind the glass.
A demo video I created to showcase a normal usage scenario. The clip shows a patient lifting the device, which would activate the touch interface. The patient reaches out to three of the five contacts, who receive the notifications as they go about their days and respond.
My first user test. I connected the prototype to the patient's best friend and her sister. The corresponding buttons activated an Internet of Things app I created on each of their respective phones, which then allowed them to respond and light an LED on the breadboard. After a week of testing the patient, Ioanna, communicated the excitement and love she felt, a feeling that grew more as time went on, understanding the meaning of the fact that her loved ones were thinking of her at seemingly random points throughout the day, times that they normally wouldn't call or text her.
The device fits comfortably in the palm. The weight of the copper gives it importance and an element of storytelling. As the patina begins to develop, it reveals the nuances of the patient's relationships, with different sides possibly being greener than others. The five sides correspond to the five closest contacts. The pentagon also draws inspiration from so-called "Eastern" medicine, which focuses more on the the non-physical existence. The pentagon is a shape of healing, a representation of the human body (also reflected in the Vitruvian man, with one point at the head, two for the arms and two for the legs). By always resting on a flat side there is always a sense of stability, but it's organic enough to feel alive as well.