This week in Digital Making three guests came to our class to share their insights. These guests included a member of the Illini Service Dog, John Hornick, and Jeff Ginger. We started by talking about possible opportunities for design within the service dog experience, then learned a lot about advancements within the 3D printing world, were exposed to the amazing network of Fab Labs, and finally met up with our teams for a brainstorm activity.
A few opportunities the Illini Service Dogs were presenting our class were redesigns of collar and leashes, a better way of connecting leashes to wheelchairs, FOB attachments to carabiners to open and close cabinets, better designed problem collar so it is easer to take on and off, and finally an easier clasp for the vests the dogs have to wear. As for research opportunities, we were encouraged to talk to occupational therapists, physical therapists, personal assistants and expert users.
John Hornick was extremely well versed on the history/progress of the 3D printing world. He shared a lot of interesting information. My biggest takeaways were democratization and customization. 3D printing allows people and patients to physically see ailments in the 3-dimensional world giving a lot more people access to information that wasn’t able to be expressed before. John also talked about the customization 3D printing is capable of. There is great strength within 3D printing. These technological advancements have aided in facial reconstruction, implants as well as 3D printing of skin! Wake Forest University’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine is 3D printing cartilage, organ tissue and even skin for the U.S army.
Our final speaker for the day was Jeff Ginger who works at the UIUC Community Fab Lab. He is an expert problem solver and critical thinker. Jeff introduced us to his world of Fab Lab. Fab Lab actually is a network of fabrication labs across the world who hold conferences and offer easier/cheaper access to extremely expensive tools to the general public.
Through our team brainstorm we decided were want wheelchair users to feel unique and proud of their individuality by using the customization found through 3D printing. We realized there were barriers and we will need to do further research on such as finding out what parts will need to be replaced most often, as well as interviewing young wheelchair users to see what kind of additions they would think are cool!
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