2020. The world as we know it has changed drastically in just a year. COVID-19 is a global pandemic that has affected so many lives, with fluctuations in the reported cases. We have gone from shaking new strangers’ hands to standing 1.5 meters apart, wearing masks and constantly sanitising after touching every little piece of public property.

Across the globe, the population find themselves living and working in constant fear thinking that the virus might greet them. As the virus progresses, we learnt that different countries and regions combated the virus in different ways, some shutting everything down and getting people to self-isolate, and some running the country like there is nothing wrong.

Although the future at the moment seems blurry and unprecedented, speculative design is strongly embedded and will aim to help what is needed. Through the power of design, we are able to create product that can support people through and even post pandemic times. By exploring speculative design futures and ideas, we end up considering and digging up more societal impacts and problems.

Although the effects of the COVID-19 were horrific and unimaginable, damaging through how to world runs, attacking the public’s health, employment and education. We can take a page from its book and learn from it in the future. By looking back on how we dealt with the virus we can imagine what would have been helpful during these times and help prevent mass spreading in the future.

My speculative design piece calls upon technology. Technology, ever since its invention, has been a vital part of society, influencing how we communicate, travel and live. For my speculative design piece, I went with something that could be used for all situations, pandemic or not. It is a simple in design bracelet that monitors and tracks the persons health, sending all information directly to their smart phone. In wanted to create something that was universal for all genders and people was very important as, when designing a product, the target market is your obvious demographic. So, in this case the public was my demographic, so designing something that majority of people would and will wear was vital. Something that was simple enough for everyday use and is not gender specific.

The bracelet is similar to that of an apple watch or fit bit, however with a more simple design structure, it is more appealing and less on the bulky side. Now days, everyone has a smart phone, from children aged 5 to elderly aged 80. The amazing technology is able to be adapted and configured so that almost anything is possible. This is why my design is so universal, that it can be Bluetooth connected and able for easy access through the click of a button.

The design monitors heart rate, blood sugar levels, temperature and other vital components to the bodies health. It uses LED sensors, like that of other smart watches, to track these vitals. This product can be universally used for any given situation, even without a global pandemic, it is important to understand if you are showing symptoms or signs of being ill, to not put others more vulnerable at risk.

It will mostly be adapted for use of people with disabilities and handicaps, as this demographic of people are more susceptible of not knowing when they are ill. People with hard of sight are not able to see the physical changes in themselves, such as paleness or cold sweats. This is why if there was an easy device that would help them, it would be much beneficial.

As this device is connected through Bluetooth to a smartphone device, a feature that can be implicated is an alert saying where high risk disease areas are. Alerting that the area has experienced a high traffic amount of people with unusual body vitals and symptoms. This feature is quite useful as it allows for people who are more vulnerable to avoid being a target.

My speculative design piece correlates and corresponds to points made in my manifesto, by linking back to designing for the people. My designed piece specifically fits the idea of designing universally instead of targeting a certain user. My design is hinted towards being more for people of disabled or handicapped backgrounds, however it is still usable for anyone.