DFA: ResponSense
Avery Bellis, Nikitas Papageorgiu, Annlin Sheih, Yashvi Vira, Amy Wong
Prompted with aiding people with disabilities to drive, my design team found that over 2 million Americans are effected by epilepsy; that's more than multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and Parkinson's combined. Most people living with epilepsy cannot or do not drive despite the fact that their seizures are irregular. Through user research and interviews, we found that a lot of our user group felt like a burden to their families for being so dependent on them for rides. We also found that a lot of our users were legally allowed to drive, but chose not to because of the looming feeling of guilt or irresponsibility if an episode were to occur. We set out to find a way to help drivers with epilepsy feel more confident behind the wheel.
We came upon a solution that could detect a seizure in the driver's seat and engage the cars adaptive cruise control and lane keeping functions until it could slow safely down to a stop where the car would notify family members. A major challenge for us was the fact that most technology to detect an oncoming seizure is still under development and not yet certified. We adapted two existing technologies: a breath rate sensor and a sweat conductivity sensor into the seat belt. A light on the dash would inform the driver that their health is good and reassure them as they drive.
