THE SMART POD
The Smart Pod is a trendy concept bag that I designed to carry my personal belongings in. Embedded technology would make this bag stand out from other bags.
This project was my winning entry for a design competition I entered as part of the University of Pennsylvania's coursera.org course that I completed in 2015 (see The Taste Tower project). Entrants were challenged to see "In what way may we create a product to carry personal belongings (e.g. keys, ID, credit cards, and etc.) “on the go”?"
Project Background
User Needs
I am not a fan of the traditional, cumbersome backpacks or briefcases so I wanted to design a bag that would:
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be stylish, adaptable to different usage styles and create a talking point
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have embedded smart technology to make it user friendly and unique
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be small and portable for the user’s belongings
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safely and securely hold the user’s belongings
Final Design
External features
Internal features
The pod’s lid is quickly opened at the click of a button. It opens using electroactive polymers which reduce in length when an electric current passes through them. This forces the lid to curl and open.
