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Orion, is a multifaceted personal safety system. The Orion device is an all in one device that has a camera, flash light, panic alarm and pepper spray. It is designed to ensure safety in traumatic situations. The device is simply activated when the pepper spray is detached. In addition to the physical product, it has a mobile application that is able to give the user an organized access to the recordings. Users are able to publicize the attack and the attacker. Other Orion users are able to monitor what is going on around their neighborhood. Using the Orion application users are able to quickly reach out for help by sending out a distress call to the police, hospital, and emergency contacts.
Project Brief
Through thorough research find a potential opportunity based on user needs and create a design solution for it.
Time Period: 10 Weeks
Problem
Walking and Late night Safety for college students in the urban environment.
Team
Jae Nam
Joe Barty King
Manav Kedia
Key Insights
We sent out a survey and conducted some interviews. Our research focused on getting an in-depth understanding about people's various experiences at night while walking. We were able to collect data from over 70 students at RISD. This really helped us get a direction towards our idea.
People dont feel safe while walking at night.
People have been victims of a nightly incident.
People are often tired while walking home at night.
People have been approached by a stranger.
People don't carry instruments of self defense.
People feel intimidated while walking at night.
In 2017, a total of 28,900 criminal incidents against persons and property on campuses of postsecondary institutions were reported to police and security agencies
Perspective of Attacker vs User
Attacker
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Attackers are usually looking for dark areas.
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It’s preferable to have nobody around.
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They need to make sure not to get caught.
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Appearing innocent and harmless, before and after an attack is paramount.
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It’s crucial to not to attract attention.
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It’s important to make sure nobody is watching.
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Getting in and out quickly is preferable.
User
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People feel safer when they know someone is watching over them.
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Drawing attention is beneficial in a dangerous situation, so that the user can get help.
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Ability to de-escalate a situation when possible, is always preferable.
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Putting the attack to light, and publicising the event may discourage future attacks.
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Having an accessible tool to fend someone off is very beneficial.
Psychological Profiles
Aggressive
If they are attacked they will try to defend themselves with an aggressive approach to take charge of the situation. This can cause the situation going out of hand.
Pragmatic
If they are attacked they will have a very level headed approach to defend themselves and will do what the situation demands.
Passive
If they are attacked they will not try to defend themselves and just hope for the best. Allowing the attacker to take advantage of the situation
Problems With Existing Tools
Pepper Spray
- Proper Distance is needed
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Should not be windy or the risk of spraying yourself
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Aim should be accurate
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Difficult to carry
Stun Gun/ Taser
- It is not legal everywhere
- Has to be approachable
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Difficult to carry
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Effectiveness depends on the range.
Panic Alarm
- It has to be approachable and activated in time of need and stress.
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Likely to go off by mistake. So need to be extra careful.
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Does not always heelp defend.
Opportunity Area
Lawsuit
Attack Back
De-escalate
Opportunity
Safe
User Persona
James Truman
Studies Architecture at RISD
Lives in Providence, RI
Has a hectic lifestyle
James is 21 and is currently in his last year at RISD. He is extremly hardworking and wants to prove himself to the world. He doesnt have a healthy sleep patern and lately, it has started affecting his physical and mental health. In order to pay for his day to day expenses he has taken up 3 on campus jobs because of which he tends to work and leave campus late. While walking home he is extremly tired and often finds himself intimidated because of the growing crime rate in Rhode Island.
Design Inspiration
Mission Statement
Tackling a problem dealing with personal safety when outside, especially at nighttime for college students. Our goal is to create a multifunctional accessory which is not only able to de-escalate a dangerous situation, but also potentially save our users lives and help catch hostile attackers.
Concept Generation & Ideation
Prototyping
Initial idea
Our initial exploration started with re-engineering the pepper spray so that we can make it a multifunctional product. After a lot of exploration we realized that by doing so we are decreasing its efficiency.
Reverse Engineering
In order to understand the working of the device we are attempting to create. We started opening up different devices and analyzing their components and function. Doing so not only gave us a good idea about the working but also helped us understand the sizing. By combining all the components together we created a quick works like model.
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Attachment and Placement
During our group discussion we discussed that we wanted to create a device that attaches to the bag pack since most college students carry one. So we did some study on how and where the device should go.
Finalizing the form and CMF
After a lot of prototyping and analysis we started finalizing a form which was of the right size and matched the college student aesthetic. For the finish we wanted to have bright colour that is visible at night.
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User Testing and Feedback
In order to evaluate our design and get some important feedback we conducted user testing with various students at RISD. The feedback that we got was very positive and our users really liked the accessibility of our device. They also said that the size was neither too big nor too small. They really appreciated the rotating feature of the clip which allowed them to position the pepper spray according to their convenience. However, some of the people were concerned about the connectivity of the pepper spray to the device using magnets.
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"What is the idle position to place the device on the bag strap?"
"Can the light flash instead of being constant?"
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"Does it send the location to an emergency contact?"
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Orion Application
Features
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Orion device connects to the App
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Emergency calls:
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Hospital
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Police
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Stores your recordings in the cloud
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Share live location with emergency contacts
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Live activity map: Allows you to keep track of crime and convicts in your area.
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You can share your recordings with other Orion users
Pepper Spray
Bluetooth Button
Night Vision Camera
Panic Alarm
Attachment Clip
USB-C
Infrared Lights
Flash Light
