A d a m V a s i l a k i sProduct Designer

Rhode Island School of DesignRensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)Hasbro Toys Global HQ

Adam decided to design a garden trowel, specifically for people with arthritis

His group began by taping their hands in positions common for those with arthritic hands, also known as an empathy test

Inspiration for Adam was that his mother loves to garden, but her current tools cause pain in her hands

After coming up with many different designs, the design on the bottom left was voted his most successful by an employee of the American Arthritis Association

Adam and his team were able to create actual models, made of insulation foam, spackle, and primer

For Adam’s next design, he chose to address the lack of headphone usage while sleeping. According to his studies, 10% of people almost always fall asleep to music, 52% occasionally, and 13% would -- if headphones were comfortable.

That is a possibly large market of people that would use headphones for sleep – if they were comfortable!

See chart:Shows need of qualifications of headphones versus importance

The thin, wide eared cup has a large diameter but a thin width. The increase in diameter allows the pressure from the user’s head on the pillow to be distributed over a larger surface area. The slight curvature accounts for head rotation. The sound-proof padding will also block out ambient noise as well as distribute pressure.

The dual head strap are to help keep the headphones in place. The strap are thing and flexible.

Z Wave Headphones by Adam Vasilakis, Caroline Pitner, and Eric Maurer

Final Design

Adam will soon be graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic School of Design with a degree in Product Design and minor in Marketing and Electronic Arts and looks forward to creating more designs to benefit people.