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Adaptable Kitchenware
Arthritis
Refers to joint pain or joint disease. Symptoms include:
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swelling
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pain
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stiffness
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diminished range of motion in joints
I will focus on the effects on the hands and wrists.
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The goal of assistive devices is to protect joints from stress and create ease of completion for an activity.
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Objective: Create a detachable, assistive handle for kitchen knives, paired with a knife set, in order to assist people with arthritis when cooking and eating.
User Interview & Tests
I conducted a user interview with someone who has arthritis that affects their hands and wrists.
Findings:
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stirring and cutting can cause discomfort
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tends to purchase utensils with thick handle
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more discomfort when cooking than eating
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thin utensils can cause discomfort, so they adjust their grip
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Throughout the project, they provided user tests for my prototypes.
Making the Handles
I started by creating a batch of various handles out of carving foam and tested them for feedback. The handle that received the best feedback is signaled by the arrow.
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Feedback:
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curve follows the hand
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fingers hug the curve nicely
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provides wrist support to prevent constant movement
3D Modeling
After the first batch of physical models, I took the feedback received and started 3D modeling in Rhino3D. I printed out 4 new models and tested them.
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Feedback:
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all are a bit too big
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first model is still the most effective
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make a bit thinner
After this feedback, I developed my first model (the one in red) further and also worked on a thinner handle for knives that require a thinner handle.
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I molded the handle shape with subD, but after using boolean difference it turned into a polysurface and I continued adjusting from there.
The handles took lots of trial and error.
Locking System
Since my handles are designed to be detachable, I had to figure out how the locking mechanism would work. I decided that a bayonet-style lock would work well as it is a simple turn and lock movement. Easy to use, but reliable.
3D Printing
Once I finished modeling, I 3D printed the handles and knives. The lock still needs more iterations and it was too small to be properly printed. The thinner knife may be a bit too long. It was user tested with various hands and with larger hands, it looked fine, but with smaller hands it looks way too long. I concluded that I can afford to make it a bit shorter. The larger knife is more accurate after the revisions from the first print.
Making the Knife Set
I began to make the knife set, however, I did not know what direction to take, so I began by making a common model from cardboard.
Feedback:
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add a locking system
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can be a unique shape, not block, maybe a statement piece for the kitchen, not just for use
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what holds the blade? make sure it doesn’t dull the knife
I really loved the idea of fanning out the blades, but wasn’t sure how. I began experimenting with hand-drawn sketches. Then, I messed around a bit in Rhino3D.
Once I decided on the shape I added more details, like a pocket for the handles, carved names for the different types of knives and the handles and blades themselves.
Rendering
Once my models were finished, I decided to render them in TwinMotion. This was the first time I used the program, however it was really easy to understand and use. I found a free kitchen model online and put it into TwinMotion where I assigned all the materials. Then I made some adjustments and added some assets and began to take the pictures.
