Small Giants

Recently, the chair of Shelly's graduate program at the School of Visual Arts, Liz Danzico, introduced us to Lonni Tanner, the Chief Change Officer at the NYC Department of Design and Construction.  When we saw her job title and her above tweet about her work at the DDC to improve New York senior centers, we suspected we'd have an energizing conversation.

We were right!  We met today and discussed the need for better interior design elements for senior centers.  There are few firms who design furniture or housewares for the 50+ crowd, which makes her job that much harder.

We're planning on testing our new prototypes at senior centers and rehab facilities in New York, and appreciate the short list Lonni recommended to us. We learned from chatting with her how important it is to put together an advisory board that includes hand specialists and therapists, to lend additional credibility to our outreach.

Thanks to our Nautilus bowl testers this week, who have helped us figure out even more ergonomic handle designs for the next iteration of the bowl!

This week, we worked with the inimitable Carlos Cruz at the School of Visual Arts' Visible Futures Lab, to modify the original CAD model of the Nautilus Bowl.  Our goals were to make a 3D print from which we could make a plaster cast, as well as minor ergonomic and aesthetic tweaks to the bowl curvature and handle fit.  

Once we have a plaster cast, gaïa can create many clay prototypes, which are a more hands-on way to quickly test changes to the bowl.  

gaïa and Carlos discussing changes to the model

Gen Silent is the critically-acclaimed documentary from filmmaker Stu Maddux that asks six LGBT seniors if they will hide their friends, their spouses--their entire lives--in order to survive in the care system. Their surprising decisions are captured through intimate access to their day-to-day lives over the course of a year. It puts a face on what experts in the film call an epidemic: gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender older people so afraid of discrimination by caregivers or bullying by other seniors that many simply go back into the closet.

Date: April 30, 2013  Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

5:30 – 6:00 PM: Registration and Reception; 6:00 – 7:30 PM: Film showing and discussion (for approximately 20 minutes)

Sponsored by: EmblemHealth, AARP NY, and “Be the Evidence Project” of Fordham University, in Partnership with the Gerontological Committee of the NYC Chapter of NASW and Emerging Aging

We were announced finalist in New York's Next Top Makers! Each team receives 5 months of studio space from NYDesigns (valued at approximately $1,650), $300 in 3D printing services from Shapeways, a starter and extended kit from littleBits (valued at over $230), as well as a $4,000 budget for prototyping materials and access to equipment. We would like to thank our friends, family, professors and mentors for their enthused support.  We are extremely excited to get this project started!