Smile Kit

explore

Juyoung Lee, Wenqi Yan, Mihir Sharma, Ragunath Rajasekar

Project Information

The Smile Kit is a supportive tool for children with blood cancer, aimed at easing their fear and anxiety during treatment. It includes smile toys, a smile app, stickers, and a calendar. These elements work together to provide encouragement for pediatric patients in an unfamiliar medical environment.

Phase 1

Research

About this Phase

2/3 of Kids have long-lasting conditions of treatment. 1000 kids are diagnosed per day. 4% budget from the national cancer institute.

We designed a certain size of smile toy through ergonomics research so that children between the ages of 6.5 and 14 can hold it in one hand because we were inspired by research saying that this age group is at high risk of pediatric cancer. We intended this toy to be made of soft material. So, We wanted children to be able to comfort themselves by holding a smile toy whenever they are anxious about the cancer treatment process.

We applied color psychology while working on this project. White symbolizes children’s innocence, and the orange color gives confidence and courage to children.

Phase 2

Problem Definition

About this Phase

It is natural for any child to fear new experiences and strange environments. Kids can’t fight cancer alone; parents and healthcare professionals must use many tools to help them.

What is the psychological support for kids with blood cancer to encourage and warm comfort?

The communication gap between doctors and children. No companion to share emotions and discuss about day to day changes. Lack of awareness of cancer treatment. Encouragement during the treatment. Clearing doubts and improving confidence about the treatment.

Phase 3

Ideation

About this Phase

We created an overall flow and brainstormed a few ideas to solve the problem.

Phase 4

Prototyping

About this Phase

After Ideating, we created a final prototype and concept of the smart kit for children fighting blood cancer. Speaking of the naming of the Smile Kit. We named a SMILE KIT to give smiles to children suffering from pediatric cancer. In the Smile kit, we have a Smile Toy, Weekly calendar, poster, and sticker sheet, a mobile application that connects with the Smile toy.

First Scenario: providing warm comfort
First, parents connect the toy with the app. And then, the toy can interact with children by giving them encouraging reactions like ‘You can do this,’ ‘I will be with you’, and ‘Don’t worry. And when the children grab the smile toy, they can feel haptic sensations like gentle vibrations that mimic a human’s heartbeat to give comfort to children. This is the first scenario for warm comfort.

Second Scenario: Educating parents
First, Parents learn from the app about cancer and explain it to their kids, such as the treatment process or any helpful information. Along the way, the smile toy can interact with children through audio aid to support parents’ explanations.

This is because parents have an emotional connection with their children. So, we thought it would be more effective for parents to explain the treatment process to their children than for doctors to explain it to their children.

APP
This app can be linked with the smart toy to control the smart toy.

CALENDAR KIT FOR KIDS WITH CANCER
Both parents and children can use this calendar kit. Parents and children can understand the treatment process by playing with the treatment process on a calendar. It is intended to reduce the stress from the treatment process.