HairMate

Inspiration

Beauty and accessibility are topics that highlight the potential for technology to make a positive impact on society. It is heartening to see advancements that allow people with muscular disorders to have greater independence in their daily lives. Thanks to ELC Hackathon, we could think about creating a project that is senseful.

What it does

HairMate is a device which helps people with impairments to wash their hair without any effort. Thanks to its handle and pole it can be used easily and access your hair without lifting your hand. The brush at the top diffuses shampoo and massages your hair to ensure a complete hair washing.

How we built it

First, we thought about all the issues people with impairments may face. After several research, we realized that hygiene is difficult to access when you have mobility problems. We then decided to focus on hair, as we saw that 88% of women say that their hair is related to their self-confidence. Indeed, shampooing is a daily gesture that allows people to feel fresh and beautiful. But some people can’t do it as they suffer from several muscular disorders. That’s why we decided to help these people, so that they gain self-esteem and are able to shampoo themselves, and as often as they want. Finally, we have designed the device to best suit the needs of the user.

Challenges we ran into

At the beginning we wanted to build a prototype, or at least create a 3D modeling to have a better visualization of our device. But as we were total beginners with those skills it was really complicated to realize them. So, we preferred to draw the device we had in mind, in order to have at least a representation of our project. Then, we decided to explain each characteristic of the device to bring more details that we couldn’t represent with a drawing.

What we learned

Simple tasks that we used to do every day can be challenging for some people, and it’s hard to imagine yourself in their place. So, we learned to think about what might be the most difficult for them, which gestures might be hard to realize every day and how to respond to those challenges. And it is usually the daily tasks that you perform mechanically that prove to be the most difficult. Moreover, by needing the help of others, people with impairments often lose self-confidence. This was a feeling that we didn’t imagine at the beginning of this project.

What's next for HairMate

The next steps for HairMate are, first to incorporate additional features or capabilities, such as the ability to apply conditioner or other hair treatments, or integrating other personal care functions into the same device. And as we care about the quality of our products, our goals are also to ensure a continuous level of quality by enhancing usability, adaptability and safety.

Built With

• capcut
• figma
• powerpoint