61% of young adults aged 18–25 report frequent or intense feelings of loneliness

Harvard magazine reports that the heightened risk of mortality from loneliness equals that of smoking 15 cigarettes a day

Feelings of loneliness can increase rates of depression, anxiety, and stress by 3x

THE PROBLEM:

loneliness

design objective

Design an object that facilitates meaningful connections between long-distance friends, fostering a sense of being known and helping with feelings of loneliness

first ideation

form finding and prototyping

moodie is an interactive set of lights that shows you the moods and feelings of your long distance friends and family. Connected to an easy-to-use app, moodie allows you to easily share how you’re feeling and see the moods of others so you can feel more known by the people you care most about.

app interface

goal: update your mood

feature: thinking of you

The moodie app allows users to send a “thinking of you” notification to other users which will appear on their moodie light as a pulsating, pale blue light

final renderings

thank you