Design Reality's Thermal Firefighters Mask
This firefighters mask by the Design Reality consultancy has been redesigned and engineered with the aim of enabling wearers to avoid danger and save victims more quickly. The Scott Sight TIM (Thermal In Mask) is a thermal imaging camera and display designed to slip inside a firefighter’s mask, which shows wearers areas of extreme heat that could potentially burst into flames.
The in-mask camera system, which took the consultancy 18 months to develop, has been developed for firefighting equipment manufacturer Scott Safety, and is an addition to a respirator mask Design Reality created for the company back in 2001. The thermal imaging system works by detecting infrared heat, and then transmitting this information into the in-screen display. Points of extremely high and dangerous heat glow bright red on the screen, allowing the wearer to know which areas to avoid.
“It’s a very intuitive product. With other devices, you need to stop doing something and pick it up to use it. With the TIM, you can just carry on walking. It’s always working and looking out for you” Graham Wilson, Design Director at Design Reality
The display is positioned below the user’s eye-line, allowing them to look down into it when they want to see thermal imaging, but otherwise does not impair their vision. The product is definitely an example of function above form, with the only styled aspect being the logo on the front of the mask. Hand-held thermal imaging devices are already widely used by firefighters of course, but the revolutionary aspect of the TIM mask is its hands-free design. Also, because the thermal imaging screen is placed on the inside of the mask, the view of the display is not impaired by smoke, or by low lighting.
The TIM screen system is part of an entire mask and respirator system designed for firefighters called the Scott Sight. It is currently available to buy in the US at $1,550 for the camera system, or $1,875 for both the camera system and respirator. It is expected to be available in the UK and Europe this summer, though prices are yet to be announced.
GyroGlove and Path Finder Shoe for Parkinson's sufferers
There are around 214,000 people in the UK alone who are affected by Parkinson’s disease; the neurological condition affecting movement. To help those suffering from the disease Joon Faii Ong has created a glove to help people suffering from tremors and Lise Pape has designed a laser guided shoe to aid with their everyday walking. Both designers have already taken part in MedTechSouthEast, an accelerator programme backed by the Design Council and MedCity to help med-tech entrepreneurs develop and commercialise products which promote independent living.
Since the Design Council awarded ten winners in the MedTechSouthEast competition in November 2015 they have gone on to be developed further as part of a mentoring programme. The designs have this week received further recognition by being shortlisted at the AXA PPP Health Care Awards and Pape’s design has scooped first prize.
“We are fortunate to have a potentially impactful invention, yet it takes critical, industry-specific knowledge to fulfil that potential, and turn the GyroGlove from a prototype into a commercial product” Joon Faii Ong
The idea for the GyroGlove was devised by Faii when he saw an elderly woman with Parkinson’s struggle to feed herself in hospital due to a sever hand tremor. The glove uses gyroscopic engineering principals and sensors to counteract the tremor and stabilise the hand. The effect has been compared with moving a hand through treacle, in that deliberate movement is permitted but tremors are dampened. The one-off cost for a GyroGlove is around £600 per unit, compared with an annual cost for drug therapy of £17,763 per patient. A full launch is targeted for later this year with testing currently underway.
The Path Finder shoe, meanwhile, has been designed for people who suffer from a common condition for Parkinson's sufferers, which can cause them to feel as if their feet are stuck to the ground. 38% of people with Parkinson’s disease suffer from falls each year. Falls represent the most frequent and serious type of accident in people aged 65 and over, and currently cost the NHS £2.3 billion every year. Pape’s company, Walk with Path, has developed a solution in shoes mounted with lasers which project green lines ahead as the person walks, activated by a sensor in each heel that monitors the user’s walking pattern and pace. The shoe then produces a line which provides a visual cue for the wearer to step over.
Both products have been honed and further developed since the MedTechSouthEast competition and are currently being tested, with the GyroGear company working with Imperial College NHS Trust, but both are also still looking for further funding.
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from the dark heart of Kidderminster in the UK.
