Our goal of this studio was to create a product that provides a variety of personal space. The initial idea evolved from a circle to an oval. We made prototypes from paper to plastic to wood. We also wanted the seats to be interlocking so we brainstormed connecting mechanisms to see how the split seats would fit together. We lasercut a to-scale person to demonstrate how the split seat could be used. In our next prototype, we smoothed two right angle into curves, in order to create a more comfortable space. A conflict we encountered was that the two seats only connected at a perpendicular angle given the initial teeth placement we had. To solve this problem, we made interlocking slots along each side except the curves. This allowed the two chairs to connect at many new ways then they previously could.

We decided to use wooden planks as support and a bed for the person to lay against. Although the planks were not next to one another, we would have a plastic covering to be more comfortable than wood and prevent anything from falling onto the individual laying in the lower bunk. The plastic would also act as a support and bed for the person. To increase stability throughout the entire seat, we added vertical planks to give support for the person’s head. In our last prototype we had shorter planks on the top seat and wider planks on the bottom. This added variation to the seat, but with the plastic along the entire seat, stability would remain the same anywhere. This was our final design for Split Seat.