Download in Adobe PDF format - Helen Hamlyn Centre - Royal ...

y RCA alumnus and industrial
designer Professor Yasuyuki Hirai
in collaboration with Kobo Maru,
a non-profit creative arts workshop
for disabled people.
Participants
Industrial design students from
Kyushu University and design,
architecture and systems
engineering students from
other universities in the region.
Framework
The three-day workshop followed
the same structure as the Kyoto
workshop, with four young disabled
men from Kobo Maru participating
throughout.
Results
Again, the results were as diverse
as in the previous workshops.
All but one of the user group
combined speech and mobility
impairments and so the proposals
by the teams that worked with
them focused predominantly on
new ways of communication.
One team devised a discreet
device that could be worn around
the neck, giving light signals at
times when help was required.
The second designed a flowershaped
motif that could exist as a
physical object to be worn around
the neck or as a symbol that could
be activated in ATMs and other
public interfaces to alert service
staff to a customer’s need for
assistance.
The third team proposed an
interactive restaurant table on
which images and text could be
written, while the winning team
proposed ‘Frepper’ – a flexible
shoe with modular elements that
allowed it to be accessorised
and was easy to put on and
remove. It could be marketed as
a new footwear innovation for the
mainstream market while existing
in a specific special needs context.
51