This post will show best practices and interesting projects, products, and services that benefit mental health.
Emotional First Aid Kit
“What if we treated emotional health equally to psychical health? This kit is designed for very different emotional scenarios.” – Rui Sun
Sun, a graduate of the MA Industrial Design program at London’s Central Saint Martins, developed a toolkit to cope with stress and provide comfort. The purple breathing mask emits calming scents when the user inhales, allowing them to think clearly in intense situations. The Indigo Third Eyeglasses have three lenses to remind the user to use their “third eye” and look at things from a different perspective, while the Blue Stress Buster is a portable speaker that visualizes sound with blue ink. Should the user get involved in an argument, the Green Meditating Stethoscope helps them tune into their breath and meditate, and a Yellow Confidence Booster is a super-light padded jacket that helps people who “lack the confidence to solve dilemmas or address a situation” [1].
Wakeout!
Apple iPhone App of the Year 2020: Wakeout!
Moving is proven to reduce stress, makes you feel more energized, and enhances your mood. Lots of people have no time to work out and spend hours a day sitting on a desk. “Wakeouts” are movements that are fun, brief, and can be done just about anywhere, anytime. The app has over 1000 exercises and hundreds of routines designed in a variety of places over 2 years. Quick Breaks are 1-minute, 4-movement routines that you start with a tap. Active Work Timer allows you to schedule recurrent active breaks to have a healthier workday. Wind Down routines helps you sleep better with relaxing routines before bedtime. Wakeout for Apple Watch lets you squeeze in 30-second Wakeouts right on your wrist. The new iOS 14 widget lets you start 1-minute quick breaks right from your Home Screen. Schedule up to 4 reminders to make sure you don’t stay sedentary for too long. You can also browse the massive library of location-specific movements and filter by mood (energizing, relaxing, intense, or fun), and by length (1 movement, 3 or 5) [2].
Naked Doorway by Marina Abramović
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When I first visited an exhibition by Marina Abramović I was shocked – in a very positive way. Her works are dealing extensively with the human mind and intense emotions. Abramović’s performances deal with love, shame, inner demons, and the whole palette of emotions. 0ne of her most popular performances is the naked doorway where two naked persons, a male and a female stand in a doorway staring at each other while visitors should walk through them. I think it helps people to overcome their insecurity about their bodies and sexuality in general. Even though it’s such a brief moment, it definitely has an effect on many people who find it beautiful how this performance creates an intense experience with the outcome of learning to deal with the naturalness of our bodies. Its purity puts the human-being and their relationships in its simplicity into focus, which I find wonderful.
Therachat
Therachat claims to improve your mental health by offering Journeys which are bundles of evidence-based therapeutic activities to help you achieve specific mental goals. You can learn simple breathing techniques to cope with stress. As a sort of modern diary you can track your emotions to realize how they affect you over time. By reframing your thoughts you could break through common negative thought patterns.
The activity library:
Assessments
Brainstorming
Coping Skills
Emotion Tracking
Journaling
Mindfulness
Psychoeducation
Skill Building
Thought Reframing
Trigger Tracking
Therachat can be used by yourself or with your therapist. Using it with a therapist will increase the effect it has on you, so that you get more out of every session. Your therapist will be able to assign you custom activities relevant to your treatment and you’ll be able to securely message your therapist in between sessions.
Permanent exhibition : the brain , intelligence, consciousness, emotion
I was particularly impressed by this exhibition. The space is really big and allow you to explore freely like you enter a curiosity cabinet. Each area of the exhibition focus on a topic related to the brain. This exhibition deals with everything related to brain. Visitors can explore the organ through all perspectives : anatomy, personality, learning, perception, consciousness and sleep. There are several hands-on exhibits where visitors can try games and play with their memory.
Entrance of the permanent exhibition
On the opposite of the first BPE we described in the COSA center, I found the graphics in this museum much more comprehensible and visible as you can see in the picture below :
Graphics used to show some history around the brain and big thinkers
When entering the exhibition I was surprised to see this little robot in the middle of the path. Its aim is to guide the visitor through the exhibition. It can talk and guide you through the stations while providing explainations. A lot of childs were playing with it. I find the idea interesting since of the coronavirus situation it allows you to have explaination without any guide. I was impressed that it attracted so much childs either.
Pictures of the KIM AI robot
This picture shows the setup of the EEG sampling (electro- encephalography). This is something that could be complex to explain, but that is quite easy to show. It work by placing electrodes on the head and the inputs are recolted and processed by a computer.
Picture of the EEG setup
The exhibition uses a lot of tactile devices as this one. On this screen, you can learn about anatomy and functions of the brain by simply clicking on the area where you want to have information about. The brain is represented in 3D and you can look at it through different angles.
The next part deals with the topic of drugs and intoxication. I really liked how it was depict and the little windows which allow you to see how it looks like. Since those products are usually prohibben it’s not easy to see how they look. I found the pictures on the wall really clear.
Graphics showing the effect of drugs on your body
This part of the museum was more showing than hands-on, but we can find a lot of hands-on experiments in the science center part. The success of this first exhibition for me resides in the clear graphics, and 3D representations of complex topics around neuroscience, which help to understand it without too much difficulty.
Hands-on experiments in the Science Center
This science center is really focus on children hands-on approaches experiments. It presents the themas : energy and lifting, acoustics and music, physics and technology, body and fitness. Every setup and activity is really simple to allow young children to interact with.
Energy and Lifting
On the bottom floor of the Science Center, everything revolves around the theme of energy and lifting. Hands-on experiments make it easier to understand the law of the lever, hydraulic lift and power transmission and the generation of electricty from water power and solar energy.
The question that must rise into everyone’s mind are : How do turbines work? How can we produce electricity from generators? Different solar energy experiments offer insight into the technology of photovoltaics. And the water experiment area invites us to get our hands wet, raise and dam water, and discover the incredible power that lies hidden in water.
Acoustics and Music
The first floor of the Science Center is devoted to the phenomena of acoustics. From the wave nature of sound to the exploration sounds and noises and the transfer of sound to the human ear, here visitors can explore everything relating to the theme of sound.
A special highlight is the “Feel Mozart” area: with a violin you can actually walk on, the vibrations of music can be not only heard, but also felt.
In the Target Singing area, you can check if you’ve hit all the right notes. And finally, in the screaming cabin you can test out the volume of your own voice.
One of the devices visible in the center. You can click and play any song and see the frequency/recording waves
Physics and Technology
The second floor of the Science Center offers a myriad of experiments in physics, technology, and mathematics. Simple experiments provide confirmation of great natural laws: build a bridge and then test it out right away, launch a rocket using compressed air, make a ball float as if by magic, feel the aerodynamic lift with your own body. . . here you’ll learn what forces are capable of doing!
Questions come up and are answered by doing experiments. How do the fastest and slowest gears work? Why is fine powder used for cement and coffee? Nothing compares to experiencing it for yourself!
Body and Fitness
Also on the second floor, a large area of the Science Center is devoted to the dexterity, movement, and health of the human body. Our own body is the focus here with simple experiments and athletic contests.
Those devices help to get the concept of forces and physical activity. What a better way to understand how it works than trying it ? By looking at the skeleton behind the glass, you can see which parts of your body are activated when you are practicing a physical activity.Physical device showing the process of teeth cleaning
Conclusion :
These two examples highlight the importance of good graphics and the of haptics in science centers. Good graphics help to categorize sometimes complex information and have the “big picture” around a subject, while haptic supports, whether highly technological or not, help to apprehend concepts, test them to understand them, and facilitate memorization.
In the next article I will try to answer to the question around the learning strategies :
Which strategies are the best for public implication and a better learning ?
How to create funny but educational experiences ?
Why is multisense particularly interesting for exhibition design and learning ?
I will continue the exploration of a few Best Pratice Examples (BPE) by showing in those 2 articles an analysis of two science centers I had the chance to visit here before lockdown in Graz and Salzburg.
The COSA Science Center of Graz
In december, I could go through the COSA science center of Graz during around 2 hours. Unfortunately, I could’nt access to the AR/VR part because of covid restriction, but I could go through the main rooms and get the main idea of the museum here.
Entry of the COSA building. On the yellow print you can have an overview of the topics presented in the science center.
There are different rooms in the COSA Center. In the Experimentarium, you can find a lot of hands on approaches and explanations about scientific phenomenas. I’ll detail the medecine experince presented in the cosa MedLab. You can also learn about technology and how are made cars.
I could only attend those, but the science center also proposes special exhibitions and contents through the COSA Plus program and COSA community. Those are social events when you can talk to different partners or guests, and there is also some special workshops and sciences show where professional can explain experiments.
Example of Science Show of the COSA museumCosa Community place where you can seat, discuss and practice hands-on experiments
The Experimentarium
We accessed the exhibit with a guide and an other familie. He explained us a bit about the content of each room and then we could go through the content freely and separated from the other familie and guide due to the corona situation.
Entrance of the exploratorium room
Hands-on best practice example : learn how to be a doctor in the MedLab
Material to start the experience
When entering this room I was particularly interested in this hands-on play approach where you are supposed to play a doctor. I was really impressed by the realism and details it got, and It really reminded me some parts of my previous biology cursus. This experience starts with this desk where you can pick up a pencil and a tablet. Then you can enter the rooms where sits the patients and pick one of them to play the doctor with.
First I took the paper here, then I went next to the patient and put the headphones on. When putting it ou can hear the story of the patient. Mine went trough a journey in the wild and went back with terrible stomachaches.
Detail paper of the patient where you can collect informations for further analysisMonitor next to the patient
In the headphone it is explained that you can write the informations here and you have to take a blood sample. This part was really funny because the model had fake blood in it and I could really take something from its body so it added realism in the gesture.
Then, you have to enter to the analysis where you will have to make some research with the sample, and gather information.
Pictures of the hands-on experiment on the website
I knew how to proceed until this step but got a little blocked through the analysis room. I remember that I didn’t understood how to analyze the blood sample, I was quite afraid to break the material. It would have been great to have more explainations about this part, but everything else was really comprehensible.
Monitor where you can search for different types of sickness and find symptomes associated
After my researches through the monitor I thought I had the good diagnostic, but couldn’t be really sure since I didn’t have the feedback from the blood sample analysis. The last step was to use those screen to note everyinformation. I remember that everything was in German so it was quite complicated to note every information. I think I would definitely have less problem if some english information where written.
Hands-on pratice example : what is green energy ?
After exploring the Experimentarium space, I went throught the sustainability room. Here is an other ambiance, with a lot of information on the wall. The graphics were really great but I think it was a bit too much to understand quickly the goal of each device. We could’nt really tell the difference between usefull explainations for the experiences and just basic information and drawing about the topic.
When entering this room, you have to collect a connected lamp, which allows you to access to the experiments. I liked the idea because it showed the physical aspect behind energy.
One of the wall you can see entering the room. As you can see there are many informations
I tried to get through this activity and really had problems. Every information was written in German again, and the main information about the experiment was hidden under this round block, which was not really logical. An other thing that really confused me was that what seems like an ipad, was non interactiv. I finally understood that the goal of the experiment was to put the phones you can see here on the tablet, which is not what you are expected to do when seeing a tablet. So it reminded me that in order for an experiment to work, you always have to consider the affordance of the device you are using, and here the tablet was non appropriate for me. I would have understood if it was something like the lamp example we showed before. An other thing, was this old phone that I found quite unpractical because it needed my left hand. I would have prefered a headphone as it was used for the other experiments.
Experiment to compare phones and their energy consuption
Underneath you can see a bicycle experiment, which I understood as a sensibilisation to consider more about cyclists and showing it as a good way to save energy.
Picture of the activity from the website
At the end of the room, you can have an otherview of all your results through the key you used for all activites. I liked the idea and sensibilisation behind it.
Summary/tracking of all your datas collected on the different experiments through the sustainability room
Hands on approach : what is a car anyway ?
In the Cosa technology space, you can develop your own vehicle and get to know the technical components. I find it was really explaining the process behind the construction of the car : through the design that we can see on this print on the wall, to the engineering part with the material construction.
Dark box : escape pause through the space and sea
To finish my journey in the museum, I went trough the dark space big media installation. I was really impressed by the setup and really appreciated the experience. It allowed me to relax and change environment. I think this part is more entertaining than teaching, I can’t say I really rememberd the content about the story, but it was still appreciating.
Dark room
Conclusion about the Cosa :
I was really impressed by the COSA center and would definitely like to go back to it with more time, and with all the facilities opened. The strenght of this museum for me, are the hands-on approaches and vision of a few professions related to science with the medical experiment and the car building. I could find a lot of similitudes between this museum and the previous example about the exploratorium because it axed on the hands on approach, there was an explainer and the center also proposes diverses activies and shows. The negative points were for me the accessibility to non german speaking people, the lisibility of information, and a few some affordance problems : there was a lot of information in each room and the hierarchy between the titles and content were not really visible. An other thing for me was the experience during the corona situation. I felt a bit unsecure doing the experiments since there was many hands on approaches, and I really question myself about the close future of science centers if this pandemie continues on a long term level.
Through this visit I really understood the social aspect behind science center. I think I may be part of those people which learn through interaction of social person and by mimicking things. Since I experienced problems without any guide (which was due to the corona situation), I really think it is something to take in account when designing an exhibition, in particular in science center. It reminds me of the questions about learning I mentioned at the begining of this subject about : what are the different types of learning, and how to imply every type in an exhibition ?
To finish, an other point to take into consideration is the affordance, continuity and conceptual models we have with the devices. It reminded me those principles from the Don Norman book , the design of everyday things that I read for my research on the portemonnaie project.
