OPTIAIR
THE SOLUTION TO REDUCING YOUR AIR POLLUTION
THE ISSUE
The health impacts of poor air quality are becoming ever more apparent. It was discovered that most air pollution is concentrated about 60cms above ground level and that construction workers are particularly at risk.
Outdoor workers are an overlooked group in the air quality debate. Whilst the majority of people spend 90% of their time indoors; outdoor workers are working long hours right next to busy roads and heavy-duty machinery.
A London construction workers exposure is six times more the level of pollutants than the average office employee.
PERSONA
Meet ‘The busy construction worker’, Bill. Bill has been working in construction for 8 years. Bill doesn’t like that he can’t see how bad the air around him is. If its’s having a long-term negative affect on his health, Bill wants to know this. Bill finds it upsetting that there isn’t anything being done to help reduce his exposure to air pollution and he believes more should be being done to help his reduce his exposure.
HIGHLIGHTING PROBLEMS WHEN WORKING OUTDOORS
Respirator ISSUES
Respirators aren’t an essential part of the construction workers PPE and this leads to the majority of construction workers not wearing or utilising any respiratory protectors, leading to them inhaling ambient air particles; bad for their long-term health.
One-time respirators, the most common of their kind in the industry, are not fit for purpose through research it was highlighted that they are cumbersome, inconvenient, uncomfortable and limit communication. Therefore, it was important to find a better solution.
SKETCH DEVELOPMENT
Initially, sketch development was utilised to produce concept sketches for the hard-hat with an inbuilt respirator system to enable clean air to be sent to the users breathing area, to stop them from inhaling polluted air.
Once numerous sketches were produced, this enabled the production of low-fidelity prototypes to be constructed to test the sketched concepts in real life.
PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT
The next stage for OptiAir’s development was to start low-fidelity prototyping and test the designs with a target user to see what aspects of each design worked and didn’t work. Low-fidelity prototyping explored what the user found comfortable, what they found intuitive to use and what device they would want to use if OptiAir was available to them.
The best elements from the designs moved forward for further development and the negative elements got left behind.
OPTIAIR
The negatives associated with single-use respirators all add up to many construction workers opting to forgo wearing them, putting their long term health at risk in the process. OptiAir then seeks to change this, by integrating a respirator into a hardhat – a piece of equipment that is considered essential PPE.
It works using sensors attached to the hat, which detect the air quality around the worker. When air quality is poor, a dual fan system snaps into place to deliver clean air to workers and create a “clean air shield” to protect them from breathing in any harmful pollutants.
optiair storyboard
THE optiair APP
The OptiAir app pairs through Bluetooth to the OptiAir Helmet. The main aim of the OptiAir app is to allow the user to see how air pollution is affecting them and see how OptiAir is making a difference to their health, to make the invisible issue; visible and educate the user.
allows users to:
See their surrounding Air Quality.
See the status of their OptiAir device.
Join the OptiAir community.
Use the Real-time air pollution map.
See the 7-day air quality forecast.
See how OptiAir is benefiting their health.
Check workers are following health and safety standards.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
OptiAir aims to replace one-time use respirators which are both inefficient and bad for the environment.
OptiAir replaces the single use product with a reusable system, designed and manufactured for longevity, manufactured from high quality materials with a modular structure, the sustainability of OptiAir will not only benefit the user’s health but also the environment.
01 Sensor unit; monitors the surrounding air quality, detecting PM10, PM2.5, VOCs and C02 concentrations.
02 Main body; made from HDPE, a durable and recyclable thermoplastic.
03 Duel fan units; the fans rotate to pump clean air out the base of the units through the filters and into the users breathing area.
04 Filters; medical grade filters that can be removed and swapped when worn out.
05 Helmet support; made from an ABS shell, it is strong, durable and recyclable and provides support to the user.
DESIGN BY NATURE HUBBUB COMPETITION
Design By Nature, brought to you by hubbub was open to university students across the UK, working on real life briefs and tackling environmental issues affecting our day-to-day lives.
My entry OptiAir was commended by the judges and won the ‘Creative Innovator’ award for the air pollution brief. The judges thought my entry was innovative, has huge potential and that I had great audience insights.
See the full article.
Loughborough University
Loughborough University produced an article to showcase 'Students commended by environmental charity Hubbub from their Design By Nature competition'.
Design Week
OptiAir has been featured in Design Week! The UK's leading online design magazine.
See the article 'Four student projects tackling environmental issues with creativity'.
