The lantern concept explored how villagers could exchange messages on health status.

Description

Concepts that reduce load on rural clinics by empowering surrounding villages through enhanced communication and awareness.

Overview

The complex nature of vaccination schedules, in addition to their poor promotion, leads to many illnesses for children in India. To address this, we came up with a product that would provide a signal to mothers indicating when vaccinations should be administered to their children. The CharmAlarm, a color-changing bead that attaches to any existing bracelet, provides a non-intrusive countdown for action. The mother would receive the first bead when the baby is born, and receive subsequent beads after each completed vaccination. “Expired beads” could be worn to further spread public awareness for timely vaccination.

In rural India, Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) visit multiple surrounding villages every week. As a result, many villagers are unable to express their health concerns as they arise. They will either unnecessarily waste a day’s wage to travel to the clinic, or they will procrastinate their visit thus worsening their condition. To enhance communication between clinic and villages, we proposed a porch lamp that would provide both a local and remote signal to the ANM, informing them of the villages’ collective health status. The lamp could use economical SMS transmitters and be built with local materials to increase regional adoption.

The lamp prototypes were sent to rural Indian villages for feedback on form and function.

The CharmAlarm discreetly informs mothers of vaccination schedules while leveraging cultural trends in infant jewelry.

Local Indian shops provided cultural insights and demonstrated the range of jewelry styles.