The process began by brainstorming and sketching our ideas out in order to decide the function of the mask and how it would fit the face.  After deciding that the function would be a breath-warming mask, we began to sketch on the elevation and section views of the face diagrams.  We decided how it would fit the face and where it would rap around the head, and what kind of material would be used in order to keep the whole piece from sliding down the head onto the neck.  After finalizing the idea we took the necessary measurements and labeled the sketches.  We than began designing the mask on Rhino.

Iteration #1

Our first iteration began by sketching out the shape of the mask and how it will fit the contours of the face and how it will it remain attached to the head.  We decided to attach and in a sense, cloak, the mask using some sort of cloth that will go around the head in order to keep the ears and other parts of the head warm.  We than began designing a very rough 2-D prototype of the mask using Rhino.  The mask was designed in 2-dimentional layers that were than cut out of cardboard using the laser cutter.  Those layers were than stacked on top of each other and glued.  The first trial did not quite fit the nose.

Iteration #2

For the second iteration a new design was made where the depth of the mask was increased and the space for the nose was widened.  This design was also made up of 2-D layers that were laser cut and stacked on top of each other.  This design had the right dimensions.  In order to get a sense of how the mask would fit the contours of the face, slits were made on the front and back of the mask in the locations where the mask had to bend.  Some slits were wider than others depending on how much that certain location had to bend in order to fit the face.  This design fit the face.

Iteration #3

The third iteration was our first and only 3-D copy of the mask.  This design took a very long time to do.  It was also very difficult to do due to the fact that the contours of the face are very difficult to account for.  However, the printed copy of the mask fit well.  Four holes were drilled in the front of the mask to increase airflow between the mask and the occupants face.  Cloth was than added to the inside of the mask using foam tape in order to make it more comfortable and make it fit more close to the face.  Two soccer socks were than cut and glued to the mask, and they were sewn in the back so they formed a headband in order to prevent the piece from slipping.  The four wholes were than cut out of the sock as well to keep the airflow.  Than a scarf-like cloth was sewn onto the sock just above the ear for extra warmth, and to conceal the mask.

Intro/Precedents

Our challenge was to design something that would help people with trigeminal neuralgia not have as much pain as they do now. We decided to try to design a product to stop the cold wind from hitting the peoples’ faces. Our goal was to make this product user friendly, as well as adaptable to cover different parts of the face depending on where the pain is. Both Jonah and I were inspired by the design of over the ear headphones for use in our product, and we ended up using the design as part of our final product. I had drawn a sketch of what we wanted the product to look like on the face, and for the most part we made a mask that matches my sketch.

First Prototype

Our first prototype was of half of the mask, and it was mainly just for figuring out what shapes the face pieces of our mask should be. We ended up having to cut all of the pieces and tape them onto the ear pieces in order for them to stay of one’s face. This prototype fit peoples’ heads well, but it didn’t stay on because there was only half of a mask and no strap to hold the mask to one’s head. The mask was also made of cardboard which made it to malleable and not sturdy enough.

Second Prototype

Our second prototype was a full mask, which made it stay on peoples’ heads, but it was too large for most people. This mask also was made of cardboard that made it bend easily. By using pins to hold the face pieces to the ear pieces we were able to make the second mask modular, but this system was very cumbersome because the pins had to be taken out in order to move the face pieces. Our second prototype lead us to realize how our mask was industrial looking with its sharp corners.

Conclusion

Our final product is more conforming to the face, and it has a nicer more natural feel that comes from its flowing curved corners. We 3D printed the face pieces in order to get the curved shape, and the earpieces are cut out of wood. Our method for connecting the pieces has also been improved, using screws to put everything together instead of pins. Our final product needs some improvements though. It would be nice if we could have 3D printed the ear pieces, and having made the sizing of the face pieces adjustable to different face sizes would had made our mask much better. Since we only had three days for this studio though, we think that we did a pretty good job on this mask.

Final Post

One 1 in 1500 to 2000 people have trigeminal neuralgia that affects their daily life. Since one of the main triggers for the pain in these peoples' faces is wind, we decided to make a modular mask that shields affected parts of the face from the cold gusts of wind that people encounter on a daily basis during the colder seasons. Because different people with trigeminal neuralgia have pain on different places of the face, our mask is made up of seven parts that cover the face, and two earpieces to hold the pieces to the head. Each of the seven pieces can be taken out of the earpiece, depending on where the nerve damage is located on the person's face. This means that our mask can be altered to fit almost anyone's needs. By making this mask, we aim to try to solve the problem of wind hitting the faces of people with trigeminal neuralgia because if the problem does not get solved then the affected people will not be able to get around and do what they need to get done.

One 1 in 1500 to 2000 people has trigeminal neuralgia that affects their daily life. Since one of the main triggers for the pain in these peoples' faces is wind, we decided to make a modular mask that shields affected parts of the face from the cold gusts of wind that people encounter on a daily basis during the colder seasons. Because different people with trigeminal neuralgia have pain on different places of the face, our mask is made up of seven parts that cover the face, and two earpieces to hold the pieces to the head. Each of the seven pieces can be taken out of the earpiece, depending on where the nerve damage is located on the person's face. This means that our mask can be altered to fit almost anyone's needs. By making this mask, we aim to try to solve the problem of wind hitting the faces of people with trigeminal neuralgia because if the problem does not get solved then the affected people will not be able to get around and do what they need to get done.

By the end of this studio, we were able to create a cohesive mask that was both stylish and protective to affected areas of the face. During the first few brainstorming sessions for our mask, we all agreed that we wanted our mask to stand out and look unique, rather than be concealed and hid. We experimented with different design techniques, mechanical aspects and style ideas to create a mask that was eye catching and aesthetically pleasing.

    During our first few brainstorming sessions, it was clear that we had a ton of great ideas that ranged from a mask full of feathers, to a mask fit for a halloween party. To organize all of these ideas, Adut, Esther, and I worked to put all of our design ideas into sketches and decide which design ideas we liked the best. After narrowing the sketches down to two, we were able to take elements from each of the sketches and put them into one main sketch.

    When we finally had our basic design idea down, we started prototyping and designing the underlayers of our mask. During the first few days of our project, we had all agreed that including a heating element in the mask would make it that much better.

    When working to create our first iteration, we decided to use a laser cut a thicker type of paper that would be foldable to resemble the shape of the mask. This method was very helpful in seeing what areas of the face that the mask would cover.

For our second prototype, we used laser cut small to medium sized triangles that would be used on top of a stretchy fabric that would help the mask maintain a sturdy yet moveable appearance. Adut and I experimented with sewing the triangles onto the fabric. This method proved to be tricky and not very successful.

    The next iteration of our mask used a white felt material that had wire surrounding the edges of it and offered a flexible structure to it. We decided that this prototype was very successful in creating a mask that was super comfortable to wear. While this prototype was successful, it wasn’t the prettiest design. To make our mask more appealing, we decided to use this felt and wire prototype as an underlayer that wouldn’t be visible to the outside of our mask.

We also decided that using layers underneath the mask would be the best solution. After doing multiple brainstorming sessions, we decided that making a outer layer to the mask that would have a cool design would be the best way to go. Since we all had different ideas about how to outer layer of the mask should look, we decided to each create our own version of the mask.

    After each coming up with our own designs for the outer layer of the mask, we realized that we needed to come up with a way that our mask would connect to the other layers of the mask and still be moveable. Yoni came up with nods that would connect at certain parts of the mask and would allow the mask to move along with your facial expressions. We decided to make 4 separate pieces of the mask that would have 1 or 2 nodes attached at each point.

By the end we created a mask with three sets of attachable pieces and a comfotable understructure that would protect affected areas of the face while being a fashionable accesory.

Trigeminal Neuralgia is a disease that affects the trigeminal nerve in the face and causes pain in the face. The pain is not always constant, it can be triggered by cold air, warm air, chewing, brushing teeth and many other things. Some treat their Trigeminal Neuralgia with a medication but many wear masks to block wind and keep their face warm. The problem with these masks is that they are often ugly and make it harder for the person to be comfortable in public and social situations. Our goal for this studio was to create a mask that helped show expression and was visually appealing and functional to keep the person’s face warm and blocked from the wind.

Our mask it made of an under functioning layer and three different designed layers on top. The lower layer has a soft fabric for comfort that is against the face, Wires attached to a low voltage battery for heat and a layer of fabric on top of that to protect the plastic designed layers. The three designs are all unique and fashion forward in their own way. The first design was inspired by petals and by building on. It is made of rectangles straight and in line at the bottom and getting more wild as they go up in a flare on the side of the mask. The second design was inspired by nervous system jewelry. It is made of intricately cut shapes in an interesting design. The third design was inspired by feathers. the feathers are used in a flare at the top and an interesting middle piece. The special part of this mask is how it shows expression. Each design is in three pieces and will attach to the bottom layer with nodes and clips. The pieces were chosen based on what part of the face shows the most expression. There is one on the forehead and nose, the cheek and the chin. When you speak and move your face, the mask will move with it to help show your expression.

This mask is important because it has the potential to help people living with trigeminal Neuralgia to feel more physically and mentally comfortable with this mask and feel less restricted about expressing who they are.

The purpose of our mask and the meaning of "Natural and Organic" was to create a mask that initially did not take away from ones facial expressions. Our goal was to create a mask that was as un noticeable as possible. However, we wanted to create a mask that was aestheticlly appealing so, we adapted the design and shapes of nervs and incorperated them into the design of our mask. Our final design and the points are controlled by a curve. The closer to the curve the smaller the "nerves" are. 

The concept of this studio was to make a mask that protect the face of people with trigeminal neuralgia from the cold air or wind. Trigeminal neuralgia is chronic facial pain condition that affects the trigeminal nerve. My solution is to make this umbrella hood style mask mechanism to protect the face from the wind. The only problem was that the mask had nothing on it to protect the face. This is important because the mask could prevent people from suffering from facial pain.

1.  The problem:

Trigeminal neuralgia is chronic facial pain condition that affects the trigeminal nerve.

If you have trigeminal neuralgia, even mild stimulation of your face —

such as from brushing your teeth or chewing or even cold air brushing your face —

may trigger a jolt of severe pain.

150,000 people are diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia every year.

Goal: To make a mask that will protect people suffering from trigeminal neuralgia from cold air or wind.

2. I brainstormed ideas and sketched different mechanisms.

These masks were rejected because I thought I could make something better that would provide more protection and comfort.

3. I chose this umbrella-style mechanism to modify because it looked more comfortable and would provide the protection from the wind while not touching the person’s face.

4. Building the cardboard prototype and identifying problems: the wheel mechanism that will turn the wheel like a hood.

Problem with first prototype:  The wheel didn’t turn with ease.

Building the cardboard prototype and identifying problems: the shoulder supports.

Problem with this prototype:  The shoulder supports were too tall.

5. Iterated prototype: hinge mechanism and improved shoulder supports.

Improvements with this prototype:  

-Made the ring bigger to decrease height of the shoulder support.

-Switched from wheel mechanism to hinge mechanism to make movement smoother.

Problem: Shoulders were not stable.

Solution: I lengthened the back of the shoulder support design so that more of the weight would distributed to the back for greater stability.

6. The hinges and the rings turn a lot more easily and is a more convenient design.  The final product would have a plastic material over the rings

Supported by both the shoulder and back makes it more stable and comfortable.

This design is better than what is out there because this is more stable and it provides face protection without touching the face.  It protects people from wind, rain, and the cold.

We began our process on google, searching for images and precedents that would inspire us. In search for "Organic and Natural" looking masks we came across a few designs that interested us. Our first iteration was made in Rhino, we created a mesh of the shape of mask we wanted, and then exported it as an stl and opened it into the Pepakura software. This software enabled us to unfold our mesh and print the mesh as 2D. We then exported that as a dxf and laser cut our mesh. The final step of our first iteration/prototype was to fold the triangles in the correct way and tape the mask together. We decided to continue with the half mask because it was more customizable to our consumers. After the grasshopper tutorial we began using weaverbird and began creating our mask in Rhinoceros 5 and Grasshopper. Our second iteration was 3D printed however it was too small and didn't fit the shape we wanted. Our second iteration used an entirely new grasshopper file which enabled us to control the holes more. Closer to the "Points of pain the holes got smaller. Then we began creating a second layer to our mask which would control the wind and air flow. 

Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) is a disease characterised by severe and chronic nerve pain in parts of the face. It is classified as a rare disease, currently estimated to reach 1 in every 20,000 individuals; however, it is also considered to be one of the worst diseases as it is an unbearable and incurable affliction. Throughout this studio, we will use a case study of a TN patient to design solutions to improve the everyday life of this nerve pain sufferer. Ultimately, this may inspire solutions that potentially apply to many other individuals with other related conditions.

Because TN effects the face, solutions will be highly visible and will have to take into consideration the social and psychological impacts of wearing something so prominently displayed.  Beyond these considerations of style, this solution will need to address several different situations and symptoms: protecting the face from wind, keeping the face warm, warming inhaled air, and fitting comfortably during sleep.  Solutions will address any one or all of these elements, and combine both stylistic elements and functional heating elements, while taking into account usability and user interface.  Students will use a variety of tools including digital modeling (Rhino, Grasshopper, T-Splines), laser cutting, hand crafting (sewing, molding), and circuit wiring (Arduino controllers, electric heaters).