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.