This was part of a series of explorations into one central topic: building a more human-centered experience into healthcare. I used my personal medical history, as a survivor of A.L.L. Leukemia, as a starting point.
My first instinct was to graph the values of my White Blood Cells, Platelets, and Hemoglobin throughout the years of my treatment.
Upon doing this I noticed the interesting shape the graph formed and was compelled to model that shape using Rhinoceros:
This was a breakdown of the original render. I modeled Hemoglobin, Platelets, and White Blood Cells separately, then divided the shapes by year to attempt to see a pattern forming.
These explorations all felt superficial, so I decided to attempt to engage the other senses. My next experiment was activating the Sense of Sound. I mathematically divided the numbers into musical notes and attempted to translate them into a musical score. Though it didn't communicate much, it began to raise more questions. What was causing tonal changes? The sound began to raise emotions in my classmates and I knew I was on the right path. Activating the senses would be key.
My next experiment was to engage the Sense of Touch. While researching the power in this sense, I began to understand how closely tied the senses are with our memories. This was a powerful revelation juxtaposed with my faint memories of my chemotherapy. Could there be a value in helping patients ground their trauma into a physical object? Could this help to prevent post traumatic stress in cancer survivors?
I was inspired by a project (The Immunity Charm) we had seen in class that took place across Southern Asia, where infants were given bracelets that kept track of their immunization history. The bracelets were modeled after traditional charm bracelets, making their implementation much smoother and natural for the local people. I decided to focus on artifacts affiliated with my Greek Culture and narrowed in on the Koboloi, otherwise known as Worry Beads. In traditional Greek Culture, a koboloi is a set of threaded beads, each representing a worry, prayer, or moment of private meditation. I wanted to experiment in designing a koboloi using my blood counts, assigning different beads to different ranges of data.
At the end of the semester I made this my stopping point. I loved the end result and am planning to continue these explorations into the new school year. My explorations and readings will be documented on my blog: Off-White Blood Cells
