3D Printing Text for Walking Cane Handle: Prep for Mold & Casting

Silicone Mold Making & Chocolate Cane Handles – Experiment 1

After Ryan’s mold making workshop a couple of weeks ago, I began to think more about mold making as a way to prototype, given metal 3D printing is a bit cost and time prohibitive given our course coming to an end so soon. I began looking into ways to cast metal at home which my […]

SOLS: 3D Printed Orthotics & Mass Customization of Footware – Inspiration

http://www.sols.com/ Foot health is important, I should know as I’m the daughter of a podiatrist. I remember getting my first pair of orthotics for my basketball shoes in high school. They were over $300, took weeks to receive, and were extremely uncomfortable when I finally got them to use during practice. Basically, I ended up […]

3D Printing with Food – Inspiration

Throughout this project I’ve faced many limitations due to current 3D printing technology due to materiality and scale. I find it encouraging that the 3D printing industry is continuing to evolve so quickly, as it means my project of a full metal cane will soon one day be a reality. When I saw this article […]

Prototype #1 – Cane Segment 3D Printed with Plaster Powder

TSA Warning – Make Sure Your Cane Isn’t a Sword!

Advancement of Metal 3D Printing to Multipe Materials!

I’ve had a lot of issues figuring out the material fabrication for my project, as I initially envisioned my final project being printed in metal. Given the size of my desired final outcome (2.5-4 feet long), printing this in metal is a bit out of my price range and access of current fabrication methodologies. Although […]

International Collaboration Netherlands in under 90 Seconds

Upon arrival in Holland, I attempted to literally soak everything up. Whether it was the architecture, the culture, or the multitude of design specimens, I wanted to explore and interact. My project, an aesthetic re-design of a walking cane for disabled individuals fabricated with digital technologies, occupied the back of my mind with each new […]

Dutch Design Week – The Alienating Effect of Technology

Going beyond simply invention and innovative design, Dutch Design Week featured critical pieces that questioned how society views aging and disability. A series of photographs picturing older adults, perplexed and annoyed with their robot companions, was both amusing and thought-provoking. We often think of advancing and utilizing technology as universally good, but in many instances […]

Initial 3D Prototype & Voronoi Cylinder Tutorial in Grasshopper w/ Rhino 3D

Due to software updates of both Rhino & Grasshopper, the tutorial I found for a Voronoi cylinder didn’t work out perfectly, as hoped. I got almost done to the point where it was time to wrap the Voronoi plane around a cylinder, but due to some coding mismatches, it wasn’t possibly. Luckily, Ryan saved the […]

Weightless, Responsive, Light Jewelry

This has nothing to do with my project, but thought it was pretty neat in the context of our class. Maybe some of the others design wearable electronics will find this intriguing. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239525

Katarzyna Konieczka: Disability = Avant Garde Fashion

Design Inspiration

Absence of Fashion-Forward Canes in NYC

You’d think in the fashion capitol & city that never sleeps, New York City, there would at least be some variety in cane choices. I was surprised to see more traditional and dull canes in NYC compared to those I previously captured in photographs in Europe. In their daily lives, may of these individuals seemed […]

Canes + Wheelchairs + Scooters of the Medditerranian

Research: Metal 3D Printing Technologies via Video

Cats of the Mediterranean… Because They Have 9 Lives…

Design Thinking at Philips Design

Our visit to Philips Design and the Philips Innovation Center was one of the highlights of the trip. Since my graduate degree program centers around design thinking processes, hearing how a large corporation is adopting and implementing a strategic approach towards human-centered design was encouraging. The presenter was not much older than students in my […]

Innovative Fabric & Printed Electronics to Improve Healthcare

The Holst Center was extremely impressive! Advancements in fabrics, flexible + printed electronics, and processes that weave fabric and technology together are quite exciting when it comes to healthcare. For example, the EKG monitor of the future weighs <10 grams and supports wireless transmission of medical grade data. Another example we learned about is a […]

Cane Functionality: Walking + Navigating

Thanks Paul for the interesting photo!

Digital Craft Workshop with Ebru Kurbak (University of Applied Arts Vienna)

Perspective-Specific Data Storage Meaning is never as simple as pure black and white. There is often many shades in-between. Depending on your perspective, vantage point, and existing biases, each object we encounter in life has an individual meaning to each of us. Our medium enables data to be stored and decoded in different ways by […]

The Future of Fashion is Now

UCLA Wireless Health Initiative & the Isowalk

Feedback from my mentor from NASA, Paul

Paul sent me some great feedback and ideas to explore over the weekend. I don’t want to totally give away all the awesomeness that I’ll be exploring in future posts, but I will say I completely agree with his comment that I must design a cane that able-bodied people look at and go, “I WANT […]

Disability = Strength

Inspiration: Symbols of Strength & Personal Growth

I searched Pinterest to explore the various symbols of strength and personal growth. As you can see below, these symbols are often used as inspiration for tattoos. I hope to incorporate one or many of these symbols into my prototype designs for the redesigned walking cane. The idea of strength and personal growth has always […]

Voronoi Diagrams & Voronoi Cylinders

Thanks to one of my brilliant classmates who first pointed me towards voronoi cylinders, I decided I would change the topic of my project. I have always wanted to design beautiful disability aids, such as walkers and walking canes, and voronoi cylinders became my initial inspiration to do so. What is (a) voronoi? “Voronoi diagrams […]

Inspiration: Highly Functional Walking Cane Redesign

One man’s attempt at redesigning the walking cane in 2009, as featured in Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/1282965/walkers-and-canes-ingeniously-redesigned-future Functional, but still lacks the aesthetic beauty to make an individual feel empowered and fashionable.

Aimee Mullins: It’s not fair having 12 pairs of legs

Great Disability Design Inspiration

Sensors & Actualizers with Andy Payne

Canes… The Best…?

The Mathematics of Origami

David Kandel teaches mathematics through origami to inner-city middle school students in Baltimore. He led a fantastic workshop for our Unravel the Code class and showcased the work of famous origamist, as well as provided instruction for how we can utilize origami to create strength and collapsibility in our designs.