Emily
Heart failure is the number one medical cause of death in athletes- through my project inspired by my teammate and friend Emily, I worked to design a wearable garment technology that changes the dynamics of training, competing, and monitoring athletes' health- taking athletic performance to the next level.
This design system was inspired by my friend and fellow athlete Emily Brettell. Emily left this earth in August of 2016 from heart failure. For the last few years, I struggled to find the words to describe how much she impacted the lives of my teammates and I.
To know Emily was to know joy and courage.
Emily has been selected as a 2024 Applied Arts Awards Winner for App and Motion Video Design
Applied Arts Award Selection Link
Emily was also selected for three honourable mentions in the RGD Student Awards.
Award for UX Design
Award for Advertising Design
Award for Storytelling
01
The Solution
Developed by physicist Canan Dagdeviren at MIT, newly existing bendable and wearable technology that can be integrated into clothing. Pairing this form of technology with a mobile application will provide accurate information instantly. Bio-sensors not only track heart rate, body heat, and respiratory functions but can also potentially calculate a person's V02 max real-time. This will hopefully honour Emily as well as to help bring awareness to the fact that heart failure is the number one medical cause of death in athletes.
02
Promotional Video
Tells a story of my former teammate and friend Emily Brettell who left this earth as a result of cardiac arrest. The video reveals a full design system created as a celebration of Emily’s life as well as means to stop cardiac arrest from reaching another young athlete.
03
Mobile and Watch Configuration
Coaches and athletes can monitor their levels such as heart rate, body heat, respiratory functions, and V02 Max. Making sure they stay in the right range.
Full process book walking you through usability testing, competitive analysis's and more.
Mobile and Watch navigation can be overly complicated. When designing Emily I decided to focus on functionality and usability. Both walkthroughs of the prototyping can be found below.
04
Self Evaluation
The thesis project revolved around the idea of pairing a form of technology with a mobile application while bringing awareness to the issue at hand. I began to research wearable technology because it is something that has always fascinated me. Soon I discovered a newly existing bendable and wearable technology that could be integrated into clothing. This technology was developed by physicist Canan Dagdeviren at MIT. Once I realized the capability of these devices I immediately thought of Emily. The bio-sensors not only track heart rate, body heat, and respiratory functions but can also potentially calculate a person's V02 max real-time. I was beaming with excitement at the chance to design a system inspired by my friend Emily’s story both to honour her as well as to help bring awareness.
The design on the garments are inspired by a circuit board to allude to the technological element of the design as well as to stress the interconnectedness that Emily brought to our rowing community. The butterfly represented Emily to many of us after she passed and was a reminder of how beautiful her life was.
Thesis for me was truly an accomplishment of a lifetime. Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way. From moral support, to design elements I could not have completed it alone. I hope that Project Emily has not only honoured her but brings inspiration other fellow designers and creatives out there. In spirit of Emily; never forget that whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come.
Emily, I hope I made you proud.