2023 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 // 2023 Spark:Spring Student // Mini-Guardian
Mini-Guardian
Entrant
Competition: Spark:Spring Student
Designer: Runbao Du
Design Type: Product & industrial
Company / Organization / School: University of Southern California
Team Members: Runbao Du
The idea of Mini-Guardian is inspired by the Tangshan incident from a woman in Tangshan China has been mauled by 9 men after she refused to be harassed. I am deeply concerned that the issue of violence and safety of all genders is not addressed enough by most tech-giants. Even if the attention drawn by countless violence-related cases around the world has been increasing, the effectiveness of the products created is relatively low. Hence, Mini-Guardian, a simple-to-operate, easy-to-carry, and effective product is created to address those issues. The product is composed of PE, marble, and pine wood as the main materials on the outside. The product functions by having the button pushed inward or forward. By pushing the button inward, your location (with the product) will be immediately sent to your emergency contacts which can be set beforehand. By pushing the button forward, the product can play pre-recorded audio to prevent tagger. The LED light shows the status of the product and whether it is out-of-battery. The product itself is charged by the solar panel at the top, and with 30 minutes of charging, the product can last for 48 hours.
