In the Fall of 2012, the CSULB Design Department partnered with students from Mechanical
and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) in a collaboration project, pairing sophomore design students with
engineering teams, embarking on their senior thesis projects.This opportunity provided students insight on the continual design process, the pressure of working under short, tight deadlines, and the platform for designers and engineers to collaborate.

 

The proposal for a suboccipital release tool was peculiar because a standard tool doesn’t exist. It’s most common for orthepedic doctors to recommend their patients who experience pain in the suboccipital
region, the lower neck area, to create their own makeshift tools, using everyday items such as tennis balls or rope, to make up for the lack of neck relief devices. There are few choices in specialized chiropractic tools in the marketplace, and these products lack human empathy.

     

Inspired by the Dumbo octopus, the Occipipod is a friendly medical device that seeks to provide comfort and warmth to its users and also deliver relief to the lower areas of the neck. Unlike stationary devices, the Occipipod is a dynamic tool that serves multiple purposes to provide relief in other areas of the body. The Occipipod is a conceptual design that explores function through form and makes an effort to intimately connect with its users who are in physical pain.

 

* Currently a work in progress.