Prototyping “Nudging” Headphones - Summer Intern, HARMAN Future Experience Team
I interned at HARMAN International in the summer of 2016, as part of their Future Experience (FX) Team. During this internship, I performed exploratory R&D and rapid end-to-end prototyping for a new kind of headphones with ungrounded force actuators to provide instinctive, non-visual and non-auditory feedback to the wearer. The system can be used to guide the wearer in a subtle way (e.g., pedestrian navigation) or to focus the wearer’s attention in a specific direction (e.g., personal warning system) without interfering with the already heavily stimulated sensory pathways of sight and sound. I planned and created fully working prototypes, including hardware and software, showcasing the user interaction described above. This included working on:
- Investigating and sourcing appropriate hardware technology - microcontrollers, peripherals, actuators, sensors, power sources, and structural components - to test different concepts
- Implementing precise mechanical systems for center-of-gravity-shifting and other ungrounded force actuation techniques, from CAD to 3D printing to mechanism assembly
- Designing and miniaturizing electronics to control mechanical systems and synchronize them with other software components
- Developing accompanying embedded software as well as Android apps to allow for basic interaction with the system and to demonstrate its usability
This internship helped me develop many competencies, such as
- Being a part-engineer and part-designer, and comfortable wearing both hats
- 3D solid modeling and motion simulation using SolidWorks
- Effective use of rapid prototyping tools like 3D printers
- Experience researching and spec-ing materials
- Practical knowledge in a variety of actuation systems
- Practical electronics hardware skills, including working with microcontrollers, motor drivers, soldering, wireless standards
- Android app development for physical, moving, embedded systems
P.S. - Full project details are covered under NDA.
