Icarus:
SAD Clock
A SAD light that alleviates the effect of seasonal affective disorder and serves a purpose throughout the entire year. The product is aimed towards people, not patients and must seamlessly integrate with the user’s immediate environment.
Project details
Role: Designer, Electronics (Team of 3)
Length: 6 Months
Key skills: Design Thinking, Sketching, Arduino(C++), Mechanical Engineering
Background
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a Mood Affective disorder in which a person with normal mental health can exhibit symptoms of depression due to the change of weather and seasons. The treatment for this disorder is the use of SAD lamps to trick the mind that it’s receiving higher levels of sunlight each day. These current lamps are very clinical looking and don’t really have a place in the home, our research showed us that the act of bringing the light out just for the winter month gave the user a sense of defeat.
Design Process
To understand how we were going to satisfy the user needs we sketched out a series of designs to conceptualise how the final product would look and function. One of our requirements was that the light showed the passage of time and thus to become a clock. This made sense as SAD is also linked to the body’s circadian rhythm and the lack of ability to tell the time in the dark months.
The arm of the light is powered by a stepper-motor which is on a 2:1 ratio cog system and is coded with an Arduino to rotate once every 12 hours. The light is powered by two brushes spinning around on a copper induction ring which is mounted to the clock face. The light face is modelled in Fusion 360 and then 3D printed.
Final Outcome
The final product is a minimalist clock that provides enough light to alleviate the effects of SAD. In future designs, the back of the clock would all be contained within the back and the light would turn on automatically daily for a 12-hour period.
