RSA Student Design Awards-Sleep Matters
A project which tries to solve the issues regarding sleep amongst the society.
This project focused on creating a socially responsible solution which would help the society with their sleep problems.
I’ve decided to focus on night-shift workers and people who have an interrupted or irregular sleeping patterns due to seasonal depressive disorder. I found that light has a big impact on sleep as it effects the circadian rythm- a biological clock which determines an individual’s sleep pattern. People who work at nights or have low light conditions at work are the most vulnerable to sleeping disorders as their daily intake of light is too low. There are also people with the seasonal affective disorder which are also affected by less light during the winter terms.
My solution is a light therapy system which could be implemeted in workplaces. The light therapy system is called ‘Bask’ and features a portable light pod which would provide a strong source of natural light in a short period of time, which would allow workers to spend their breaks in the pod for 10 to 15 minutes. The pods would be located in designated areas and could also
be implemented in public spaces. The booking could be done online or via a Bask reception where the person would receive
a code and pod number. The project not only focuses on the concept and the solution but also on providing people with
important information regarding healthy sleep and the importance of light in maintainig a regular sleep pattern. The project provides information about sleep in a series of infographics designed to organise the most crucial data.
