Name: Demosthenis Katsouris

 

Title: Interactive playroom: to increase children’s physical activity and promote group play.

 

Description: This project attempts to find a solution for the rising problem of childhood obesity. Obesity levels have tripled in the last 30 years, because of unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise.

 

The project, to create an interactive playroom, was inspired by video games and specifically by a book of Jane McGonigal “Reality is Broken” that explains why games bring out the best of us. Video games are a major part of children’s lives and they play a significant role on child obesity. They use various techniques to get children engaged and motivated in completing their ultimate game goal. Since games are here to stay, these techniques will be implemented, to get children engaged in games with an active nature as opposed to sitting in front of a screen, and ideally help them with possible weight issues.

 

The product, will utilize infrared LED emitters and IR cameras, to make surfaces interactive, as well as tracking children’s movements, to allow them to play a video game inside the interactive room. Children will play in groups of 4-8, and will be able to choose form a series of games, according to their preferences, with different levels of difficulty. These elements will serve as a basis to attract children of different age groups and physical abilities.

 

The product will be sold as a complete kit for similar price as soft play equipment, to revolutionize soft play areas and attract children of older ages.

 

Bio: Demosthenis Katsouris is a 24 year-old, Greek-Cypriot student that has decided to study Product Design in order to combine his desire to understand how things work, with his long lasting passion for art

As a student, he is particularly keen towards engineering oriented subjects, problem solving and graphic design practices, such as editorial.

“Golden Proportions” have been an area of particular interest and inspiration to him and specifically how its use can affect the aesthetics of products. Geometry analysis has been implemented to a number of his designs, resulting in significant aesthetic improvements.

His latest aspiration is to explore how digital technology and interactive surfaces can be used to improve existing products and create new ones.

Demos’ next target is to further develop his acquired skills, by pursuing a Master’s degree, focusing on how users interact with products, before pursuing a carrier as a product designer.