2024 Galleries
The Spark Gallery pages are one of our most popular design destinations, with thousands of visitors each year. Check out some of the latest Spark entries, in the galleries below.
Galleries // 2016 Spark:Spring Concept // Syren
Syren
Winner - Bronze
Competition: Spark:Spring Concept
Designer: Daniel Smitasin
Design Type: Medical
Company / Organization / School: Art Center College of Design
Website: http://danielsmitasin.com
Syren is a myoelectric prosthetic arm for upper-body amputees that integrates music as a learning tool and as a form of therapy. By using music as the center of innovation, Syren targets both the physical and emotional problems. Since amputee patients loose the sense of touch Syren uses sound and pressure sensors on each fingertip to give the user auditory feedback increasing or decreasing the volume of sound as a result of how hard or soft they are touching something. The sounds integrated into the prosthesis can then be used to create music, making Syren the first of its kind - a prosthetic musical instrument. Syren utilizes music's exceptional ability to activate multiple parts of our brain to help amputees deal with phantom limb pain by releasing endorphins and cultivating a new way of doing music therapy.
