Our exploration of the Radical Atoms theme, utilizing pneumatic soft actuation and sensing, led us to develop an interactive “smart” pillow. Smart Pillow is a pillow that transforms based on user’s needs and emotions. It can sense pressure in different contexts to interact with the user by changing shape.
The pillow has three specific modes of interaction:
- Automatic shape adjustment during sleep for maximum comfort: The Smart Pillow senses areas of high-pressure, and reduces its inflation accordingly to relieve pressure areas. Meanwhile, it detects areas of low pressure and inflates them more, matching the contour of the user’s head and neck to distribute support evenly.
Sleeping comfortably on the self-adjusting smart pillow.
- Sleeping/Reading Context Switching: When the user tries to sit up in a reading position, differences in pressure across the entire pillow activate a wedge-shaped pouch for the perfect bed reading ergonomics. When the user is done and wants to sleep, sliding down on the pillow reactivates sleep mode.
Reading on the self-adjusting smart pillow.
- Tactile Emotional Support: When the user clutched Smart Pillow in worry and despair, Smart Pillow gives the user a hug of reassurance and consolation.
Hug reciprocation with the lovable smart pillow.
The first prototype of Smart Pillow has undergone successful initial testing.
Future versions are recommended to incorporate:
- emotional sensing and response
- user personalization
- reading illumination
- telepresence sleeping
- bedtime story tangible augmentation
- wake alarm functionality