KNOT
Basic information
Project Title
KNOT
Full project title
Inclusive eyewear especially designed for people suffering from arthritis.
Category
Prioritising the places and people that need it the most
Project Description
KNOT is an inclusive eyewear identified by a strong sense of social responsibility that finds expression in the particular shape of the temples that facilitate the use to people suffering from arthritis.
The user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and off the glasses and the openings on the temples creates an additional affordance.
The temples also give a characterizing aesthetic impact that can enhance the person’s profile.
The user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and off the glasses and the openings on the temples creates an additional affordance.
The temples also give a characterizing aesthetic impact that can enhance the person’s profile.
Geographical Scope
National
Project Region
Italy
Urban or rural issues
Mainly urban
Physical or other transformations
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
EU Programme or fund
No
Description of the project
Summary
The New European Bauhaus is looking for innovative, inclusive and sustainable solutions that put people and nature at the center.
KNOT is an inclusive eyewear identified by a strong sense of social responsibility that finds expression in the particular shape of the temples that facilitates the use also to people suffering from arthritis, an autoimmune disease that affects the small joints, specifically of the hands, causing difficulty and pain in gripping small/thin objects/parts.
There are about 57.5 million of people with arthritis in Europe.
The temples are designed to make it easier for people to interact with glasses, regardless of the presence of this disease. The shape of the temples reflects the concept of “form follows function” because it is characterized by an elongated ring whose profile widens the grip compared to traditional glasses in order to reduce the pain and stiff of little joints due to the presence of arthritis. In this way the user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and take off the glasses. Furthermore, the opening creates an additional affordance to slide the finger through, to better manage the action of wearing and carrying the glasses in order to ensure a stable and secure grip since people with arthritis are more likely to have imprecise and insecure movements.
Designing inclusive glasses means designing glasses that are especially suitable for those suffering from arthritis without emphasizing that the person wearing them has a disease, either for young and old people since arthritis can affect both categories.
Over 100.000 tons of plastic from unused eyewear is discarded each year.
For this reason, it is very important to select sustainable materials that can reduce the negative impact on the environment.
KNOT can be produced with recycled plastic collected by independent companies or by recycling local community systems to provide it directly to the people in need.
KNOT is an inclusive eyewear identified by a strong sense of social responsibility that finds expression in the particular shape of the temples that facilitates the use also to people suffering from arthritis, an autoimmune disease that affects the small joints, specifically of the hands, causing difficulty and pain in gripping small/thin objects/parts.
There are about 57.5 million of people with arthritis in Europe.
The temples are designed to make it easier for people to interact with glasses, regardless of the presence of this disease. The shape of the temples reflects the concept of “form follows function” because it is characterized by an elongated ring whose profile widens the grip compared to traditional glasses in order to reduce the pain and stiff of little joints due to the presence of arthritis. In this way the user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and take off the glasses. Furthermore, the opening creates an additional affordance to slide the finger through, to better manage the action of wearing and carrying the glasses in order to ensure a stable and secure grip since people with arthritis are more likely to have imprecise and insecure movements.
Designing inclusive glasses means designing glasses that are especially suitable for those suffering from arthritis without emphasizing that the person wearing them has a disease, either for young and old people since arthritis can affect both categories.
Over 100.000 tons of plastic from unused eyewear is discarded each year.
For this reason, it is very important to select sustainable materials that can reduce the negative impact on the environment.
KNOT can be produced with recycled plastic collected by independent companies or by recycling local community systems to provide it directly to the people in need.
Key objectives for sustainability
KNOT is an inclusive eyewear identified by a strong sense of social responsibility that finds expression in the particular shape of the temples that facilitate the use to people suffering from arthritis.
The user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and off the glasses and the openings on the temples creates an additional affordance.
The temples also give a characterizing aesthetic impact that can enhance the person’s profile and satisfy the desires of those who are looking for fashionable glasses or simply want to stand out from the crowd.
Over 100.000 tons of plastic from unused eyewear is discarded each year. For this reason, it is very important to select sustainable materials that can reduce the negative impact on the environment.
KNOT can be produced with recycled plastic collected by independent companies or by recycling local community systems like Precious Plastic. Depending on how the material is processed, it is possible to avail on 3 different production processes:
- 3D printing technologies, in case of small production volumes (e.g. local production), starting from plastic recycled in 3D printing filament;
- CNC machines, in case of small/medium production volumes, starting from plastic recycled in uniform/speckled flat sheet;
- injection molding techniques, in case of high production volumes, starting from plastic recycled in form of granules/fragments.
For the structure of the glasses has been defined a minimum necessary thickness in order to reduce the waste of material and therefore the environmental impact. Since the glasses consists of a “unibody” frame and “unibody” temples, the disassembly operation becomes easier and faster for a proper recycling.
The packaging is made of an innovative biobased material. Thanks to the energy-efficient production process, the material presents a low carbon footprint. The material is home compostable or can be recycled via existing channels.
The user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and off the glasses and the openings on the temples creates an additional affordance.
The temples also give a characterizing aesthetic impact that can enhance the person’s profile and satisfy the desires of those who are looking for fashionable glasses or simply want to stand out from the crowd.
Over 100.000 tons of plastic from unused eyewear is discarded each year. For this reason, it is very important to select sustainable materials that can reduce the negative impact on the environment.
KNOT can be produced with recycled plastic collected by independent companies or by recycling local community systems like Precious Plastic. Depending on how the material is processed, it is possible to avail on 3 different production processes:
- 3D printing technologies, in case of small production volumes (e.g. local production), starting from plastic recycled in 3D printing filament;
- CNC machines, in case of small/medium production volumes, starting from plastic recycled in uniform/speckled flat sheet;
- injection molding techniques, in case of high production volumes, starting from plastic recycled in form of granules/fragments.
For the structure of the glasses has been defined a minimum necessary thickness in order to reduce the waste of material and therefore the environmental impact. Since the glasses consists of a “unibody” frame and “unibody” temples, the disassembly operation becomes easier and faster for a proper recycling.
The packaging is made of an innovative biobased material. Thanks to the energy-efficient production process, the material presents a low carbon footprint. The material is home compostable or can be recycled via existing channels.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Designing inclusive glasses means designing glasses that are especially suitable for those suffering from arthritis without emphasizing that the person wearing them has a disease, either for young and old people since arthrititis can affect both categories.
The temples are designed to make it easier for people to interact with glasses, regardless of the presence of this disease. The shape of the temples reflects the concept of “form follows function” because it is characterized by an elongated ring whose profile widens the grip compared to traditional glasses in order to reduce the pain and stiff of little joints due to the presence of arthritis. In this way the user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and take off the glasses. Furthermore, the opening creates an additional affordance to slide the finger through, to better manage the action of wearing and carrying the glasses in order to ensure a stable and secure grip since people with arthritis are more likely to have imprecise and insecure movements.
The temples, as well as being functional, give a characterizing aesthetic impact that can enhance the person’s profile and satisfy the desires of those who are looking for fashionable glasses or simply want to stand out from the crowd. The frame is designed to dialogue with the temples in order to achieve a visual balance.
The color palette of KNOT includes not only neutral tones, but also colorful nuances, dependant on the type of plastic recovered, thus resulting in a non-repeatable random texture that gives an aesthetic and a character always unique for each pair of glasses.
Futhermore, this variegated texture is specifically chosen to make it clear that it is a recycled material in order to increase the awareness towards environmental safeguard.
The temples are designed to make it easier for people to interact with glasses, regardless of the presence of this disease. The shape of the temples reflects the concept of “form follows function” because it is characterized by an elongated ring whose profile widens the grip compared to traditional glasses in order to reduce the pain and stiff of little joints due to the presence of arthritis. In this way the user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and take off the glasses. Furthermore, the opening creates an additional affordance to slide the finger through, to better manage the action of wearing and carrying the glasses in order to ensure a stable and secure grip since people with arthritis are more likely to have imprecise and insecure movements.
The temples, as well as being functional, give a characterizing aesthetic impact that can enhance the person’s profile and satisfy the desires of those who are looking for fashionable glasses or simply want to stand out from the crowd. The frame is designed to dialogue with the temples in order to achieve a visual balance.
The color palette of KNOT includes not only neutral tones, but also colorful nuances, dependant on the type of plastic recovered, thus resulting in a non-repeatable random texture that gives an aesthetic and a character always unique for each pair of glasses.
Futhermore, this variegated texture is specifically chosen to make it clear that it is a recycled material in order to increase the awareness towards environmental safeguard.
Key objectives for inclusion
KNOT is an inclusive eyewear identified by a strong sense of social responsibility that finds expression in the particular shape of the temples that facilitates the use also to people suffering from arthritis, an autoimmune disease that affects the small joints, specifically of the hands, causing difficulty and pain in gripping small/thin objects/parts.
There are about 57.5 million of people with arthritis in Europe. Approximately 82% of people are diagnosed with arthritis at age 30-60 years old.
The temples are designed to make it easier for people to interact with glasses, regardless of the presence of this disease. The shape of the temples reflects the concept of “form follows function” because it is characterized by an elongated ring whose profile widens the grip compared to traditional glasses in order to reduce the pain and stiff of little joints due to the presence of arthritis. In this way the user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and take off the glasses. Furthermore, the opening creates an additional affordance to slide the finger through, to better manage the action of wearing and carrying the glasses in order to ensure a stable and secure grip since people with arthritis are more likely to have imprecise and insecure movements.
The temples, as well as being functional, give a characterizing aesthetic impact that can enhance the person’s profile and satisfy the desires of those who are looking for fashionable glasses or simply want to stand out from the crowd. The frame is designed to dialogue with the temples in order to achieve a visual balance.
Designing inclusive glasses means designing glasses that are especially suitable for those suffering from arthritis without emphasizing that the person wearing them has a disease, either for young and old people since arthrititis can affect both categories.
There are about 57.5 million of people with arthritis in Europe. Approximately 82% of people are diagnosed with arthritis at age 30-60 years old.
The temples are designed to make it easier for people to interact with glasses, regardless of the presence of this disease. The shape of the temples reflects the concept of “form follows function” because it is characterized by an elongated ring whose profile widens the grip compared to traditional glasses in order to reduce the pain and stiff of little joints due to the presence of arthritis. In this way the user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and take off the glasses. Furthermore, the opening creates an additional affordance to slide the finger through, to better manage the action of wearing and carrying the glasses in order to ensure a stable and secure grip since people with arthritis are more likely to have imprecise and insecure movements.
The temples, as well as being functional, give a characterizing aesthetic impact that can enhance the person’s profile and satisfy the desires of those who are looking for fashionable glasses or simply want to stand out from the crowd. The frame is designed to dialogue with the temples in order to achieve a visual balance.
Designing inclusive glasses means designing glasses that are especially suitable for those suffering from arthritis without emphasizing that the person wearing them has a disease, either for young and old people since arthrititis can affect both categories.
How Citizens benefit
KNOT began as a challenge to design an inclusive pair of glasses with a unique aesthetic and an innovative way of interaction that was not only functional for those with the disorder but for everyone. During a call, I met the contact person of a major association dedicated to supporting arthritis sufferers who told me how she found many difficulties in choosing an appropriate pair of glasses that was manageable, but also lightweight and possibly aesthetically pleasing. In the end she chose an eyeglass that was only lightweight, not particularly comfortable to wear or aesthetically pleasing. This was one of the reasons that prompted me to design eyewear that was inclusive, lightweight, appealing, and of course, nowadays essential, environmentally sustainable. Moreover, eyeglasses are not a purely aesthetic accessory but also serve an important function so they are not something you can do without if you need them.
The contact person of this company told me how so many rheumatoid diseases affect the hands and not only rheumatoid arthritis increasing even more the potential applications as well as for normal people who want a pair of glasses with an original look and interaction and with an eye to social and environmental sustainability.
Some users suffering from this disease told me how there are so many types of arthritis of which some manifest themselves in the form of pain and deformation at the joint points of the joints while others only cause pain without presenting any apparent deformation. This last point made me reflect on the fact that having created a pair of spectacles with a curated aesthetic was also an important prerequisite for promoting inclusion. In addition, the choice of materials, a lightweight and flexible material to withstand bumps and falls well was also highly appreciated since many traditional glasses have been described as heavy and uncomfortable.
Another interesting point raised during the meetings was to develop a pair of sunglasses.
The contact person of this company told me how so many rheumatoid diseases affect the hands and not only rheumatoid arthritis increasing even more the potential applications as well as for normal people who want a pair of glasses with an original look and interaction and with an eye to social and environmental sustainability.
Some users suffering from this disease told me how there are so many types of arthritis of which some manifest themselves in the form of pain and deformation at the joint points of the joints while others only cause pain without presenting any apparent deformation. This last point made me reflect on the fact that having created a pair of spectacles with a curated aesthetic was also an important prerequisite for promoting inclusion. In addition, the choice of materials, a lightweight and flexible material to withstand bumps and falls well was also highly appreciated since many traditional glasses have been described as heavy and uncomfortable.
Another interesting point raised during the meetings was to develop a pair of sunglasses.
Physical or other transformations
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Innovative character
As pointed out directly by people with arthritis, glasses that are aesthetic, functional, and lightweight are very difficult to find to the point that they have been forced to make a trade-off between the features of glasses available on the market and on the Internet. In overall, there are very few solutions for people with arthritis, and those few that are available are very expensive and therefore not very affordable.
Therefore, my inclusive eyewear solution for people with arthritis or hand problems in general can respond much more accurately and consistently to this niche market, but having still worked on being able to preserve an appealing and interesting aesthetic, the solution can be suitable for anyone who is attracted to this eyewear.
The innovative elements are that the user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and off the glasses and the openings on the temples creates an additional affordance, The temples are designed to make it easier for people to interact with glasses, regardless of the presence of this disease. The shape of the temples reflects the concept of “form follows function” because it is characterized by an elongated ring whose profile widens the grip compared to traditional glasses in order to reduce the pain and stiff of little joints due to the presence of arthritis. Furthermore, the opening creates an additional affordance to slide the finger through, to better manage the action of wearing and carrying the glasses in order to ensure a stable and secure grip since people with arthritis are more likely to have imprecise and insecure movements.
The temples also give a characterizing aesthetic impact that can enhance the person’s profile and can also satisfy the desires of those who are looking for fashionable glasses or simply want to stand out from the crowd.
Therefore, my inclusive eyewear solution for people with arthritis or hand problems in general can respond much more accurately and consistently to this niche market, but having still worked on being able to preserve an appealing and interesting aesthetic, the solution can be suitable for anyone who is attracted to this eyewear.
The innovative elements are that the user is not forced to excessively bend the thumb and index finger joints when gripping to put on and off the glasses and the openings on the temples creates an additional affordance, The temples are designed to make it easier for people to interact with glasses, regardless of the presence of this disease. The shape of the temples reflects the concept of “form follows function” because it is characterized by an elongated ring whose profile widens the grip compared to traditional glasses in order to reduce the pain and stiff of little joints due to the presence of arthritis. Furthermore, the opening creates an additional affordance to slide the finger through, to better manage the action of wearing and carrying the glasses in order to ensure a stable and secure grip since people with arthritis are more likely to have imprecise and insecure movements.
The temples also give a characterizing aesthetic impact that can enhance the person’s profile and can also satisfy the desires of those who are looking for fashionable glasses or simply want to stand out from the crowd.
Disciplines/knowledge reflected
The knowledge of users suffering from arthritis was very precious because it brought me many insights that had important relevance during the project, starting with being able to design a pleasant and functional form and prioritizing the choice of lightweight, strong, and durable materials in line also with the overall idea of sustainability.
The knowledge provided by the rheumatologist and physiotherapist helped me to formalize the details of the project much more quickly and punctually and above all to always verify that form, function, and interaction remained in perfect balance.
As mentioned above, the project was very iterative because designing a wearable solution always requires a lot of trial and error to find the right proportions, and this phase is currently almost at an end.
Finally, having always made 3D prints to verify each step of the project was helpful so that we would always have an eye on the changes, smaller and smaller and localized from one version to the next so that by wearing and interacting with them it would be possible to immediately verify or not the effectiveness of the change.
Now it would be necessary to be able to engage with people in the business as well to figure out how to bring this solution into reality so that it can be freely available to those who want these glasses.
The knowledge provided by the rheumatologist and physiotherapist helped me to formalize the details of the project much more quickly and punctually and above all to always verify that form, function, and interaction remained in perfect balance.
As mentioned above, the project was very iterative because designing a wearable solution always requires a lot of trial and error to find the right proportions, and this phase is currently almost at an end.
Finally, having always made 3D prints to verify each step of the project was helpful so that we would always have an eye on the changes, smaller and smaller and localized from one version to the next so that by wearing and interacting with them it would be possible to immediately verify or not the effectiveness of the change.
Now it would be necessary to be able to engage with people in the business as well to figure out how to bring this solution into reality so that it can be freely available to those who want these glasses.
Methodology used
For this project, I followed the classic Double Diamond Design Process (exploring different solutions in a divergent way and then converging to a solution) combined with the famous Design Thinking approach developed by IDEO, so working on the stages of empatization, definition, ideation, prototyping and testing in an iterative way until a well-thought-out and thorough solution was achieved.
Definitely the most important steps were the empatization stage to be able to put oneself in the shoes of these people suffering from arthritis and the prototyping and testing stages to verify that the concept could have a chance to really become a real solution that could facilitate and improve the lives of these people. These were the phases that were repeated several times to refine the project and are almost coming to an end with the last user testing sessions scheduled.
Definitely the most important steps were the empatization stage to be able to put oneself in the shoes of these people suffering from arthritis and the prototyping and testing stages to verify that the concept could have a chance to really become a real solution that could facilitate and improve the lives of these people. These were the phases that were repeated several times to refine the project and are almost coming to an end with the last user testing sessions scheduled.
How stakeholders are engaged
As synthesized above, locally, I have tried to involve people who experience this disease firsthand but also obviously specialists in the field such as a rheumatologist and a physical therapist. They helped me in the development of the functional details and we are currently evaluating how people with arthritis perceive this design to see if we need to add or integrate future functions, but for now, the users who have been available to test this solution have loved all the design choices from the shape, to the interaction to the choice of materials. On a broader level, I am in contact with an organization that has been involved in supporting sufferers with this disorder for decades and with this organization we have made meetings to be able to test the functionality and the more emotional aspects of the design with different users with different types of rheumatic problems in their hands (pain, deformation and pain, etc.) to understand what are the limitations of the current solution. A few days ago (early November) we organized a meeting again with people with very severe hand deformities to understand how the eyeglass behaves even in the most extreme cases. Certainly, the support of these people has been crucial in arriving at the development of a solution that has been extremely refined in detail and may soon be officially validated.
Last but not least, a thought about the commercialization of the solution: a first option would be to bring the solution in an opensource way so as to minimize the expense burden of these people with arthritis, whose products available today are all very expensive. The second option would be to propose them to investors hoping that they would appreciate all the efforts made to arrive at this final proposal and help bring the product to the market so that it could be accessible to everyone, people with arthritis and not, so a true inclusive eyewear, but always being careful to try to maintain a fair and affordable selling cost.
Last but not least, a thought about the commercialization of the solution: a first option would be to bring the solution in an opensource way so as to minimize the expense burden of these people with arthritis, whose products available today are all very expensive. The second option would be to propose them to investors hoping that they would appreciate all the efforts made to arrive at this final proposal and help bring the product to the market so that it could be accessible to everyone, people with arthritis and not, so a true inclusive eyewear, but always being careful to try to maintain a fair and affordable selling cost.
Global challenges
KNOT aims to respond to the following EU Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 concerning good health and well-being (3) together with reduced inequalities (10) but also others challenges about the creation of sustainable communities and the use of responsible productions methods.
KNOT responds to social inclusion challenges by proposing a unique and innovative solution that can be exported to different contexts and scenarios in Europe and around the World.
I believe that improving even the quality of life of a single person is already a great success but thanks to the calls and meetings made with the people and the experts, I discovered how much potential this solution could have and that it could really improve the quality of life of so many people. Moreover, by offering this solution in two versions, one as eyeglasses and one as sunglasses, an even wider audience of interested potential users could be reached.
The choice of material and manufacturing processes is also very important because since this solution is a physical product, its manufacture and implementation will have an impact on the environment that must be as low as possible in order to be an environmentally sustainable product during its all life cycle (cradle to cradle philosophy).
KNOT responds to social inclusion challenges by proposing a unique and innovative solution that can be exported to different contexts and scenarios in Europe and around the World.
I believe that improving even the quality of life of a single person is already a great success but thanks to the calls and meetings made with the people and the experts, I discovered how much potential this solution could have and that it could really improve the quality of life of so many people. Moreover, by offering this solution in two versions, one as eyeglasses and one as sunglasses, an even wider audience of interested potential users could be reached.
The choice of material and manufacturing processes is also very important because since this solution is a physical product, its manufacture and implementation will have an impact on the environment that must be as low as possible in order to be an environmentally sustainable product during its all life cycle (cradle to cradle philosophy).
Learning transferred to other parties
This solution was designed to meet the needs and desires of people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis but during user testing, I discovered that there are many other types of arthritis that also attack the hands making them painful, or deformed or with more imprecise and unstable gestures. In addition, there are other diseases besides arthritis that affect the function and precision of the hands such as tendinitis and tendinopathies, trigger finger, carpal tunnel syndrome, de quervain's syndrome, Dupuytren's disease and osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's disease, etc.
Other people who may suffer from diseases not strictly related to arthritis are the elderly in general who may have difficulty with precise hand movement, have more swollen hands due to age, or other conditions.
Last but not least, looking at these glasses one would not think that they were designed only for people with hand problems or for the elderly, in fact, the aesthetic pleasantness of the solution and its appealing are important elements because they not only facilitate inclusion by avoiding marking the person wearing them as someone who suffers from a disease or an elderly person, but they can also be worn by people of any age who perhaps are looking for special, fashionable glasses or who wants to stand out from the crowd.
There are about 57.5 million of people with arthritis in Europe, so this solution can be transferred to different settings/countries because the needs and desires of these people with hand problems are the same or similar in all countries of the European Union and around the World.
Other people who may suffer from diseases not strictly related to arthritis are the elderly in general who may have difficulty with precise hand movement, have more swollen hands due to age, or other conditions.
Last but not least, looking at these glasses one would not think that they were designed only for people with hand problems or for the elderly, in fact, the aesthetic pleasantness of the solution and its appealing are important elements because they not only facilitate inclusion by avoiding marking the person wearing them as someone who suffers from a disease or an elderly person, but they can also be worn by people of any age who perhaps are looking for special, fashionable glasses or who wants to stand out from the crowd.
There are about 57.5 million of people with arthritis in Europe, so this solution can be transferred to different settings/countries because the needs and desires of these people with hand problems are the same or similar in all countries of the European Union and around the World.
Keywords
Inclusive design
Design for all
Support people suffering from arthritis
Sustainable materials
Sustainable production
