EarthCode (2024)
A decentralized system that democratizes the carbon offset market by allowing private forest owners to contribute to climate action
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1st Prize - Dezeen x Bentley Start Something Powerful Award
Finalist - WIRED CREATIVE HACK AWARD 2024
InnovationRCA's LaunchPad Programme 2024
EarthCode democratizes the carbon offset market using a decentralized, low-power LiDAR scanner to create tamper-proof codes for each tree. The transparent system enhances carbon credit credibility, enabling private forest owner to contribute to climate action.
EarthCode uses a handheld 2D LiDAR scanner to capture detailed images of tree bark, creating unique Bark-Codes. The system emits laser pulses to map the bark surface, producing a detailed texture map. This data identifies tree characteristics like health, species, age, and more. The Bark-Code represents these attributes with color-coded bars and is used on an online platform for trading carbon credits, ensuring accuracy and reliability. Instead of scanning the entire tree, EarthCode scans a specific part of the trunk (tree ring).
Forest owners receive incentives based on scan frequency and excellence in forest management. By following the "Improved Forest Management" approach for trees over 25 years old, there is no concern about changes in tree shape, as their growth has stabilized. This ensures the consistency and reliability of the Bark-Codes. Additionally, forest owners can directly connect with end buyers, streamlining the carbon credit trading process.
PERA (2024)
Maria Asif
Hanju Seo
Sven Winkler von Stiernhielm
Alexander Spencer
The world’s first smart health assistant for people with bowel incontinence.
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The Helen Hamlyn Award for Creativity & The Northumbrian Water Award for Inclusive Innovation 2024
Third Prize in WE Innovate 2024, the women-led start-up accelerator run by Imperial Enterprise Lab.
Maria Asif
Hanju Seo
Sven Winkler von Stiernhielm
Alexander Spencer
The world’s first smart health assistant for people with bowel incontinence.
watch a video ︎
The Helen Hamlyn Award for Creativity & The Northumbrian Water Award for Inclusive Innovation 2024
Third Prize in WE Innovate 2024, the women-led start-up accelerator run by Imperial Enterprise Lab.
Pera is a wearable device that tracks digestion for people with bowel incontinence. It offers real-time continuous monitoring that can predict passing stool 40 minutes in advance to prevent accidents. Pera gives freedom back to people with incontinence.
Pera is completely non-invasive. The device discreetly adheres with a patch to a user’s lower tummy and analyses bowel sound activity in real-time. This is achieved using trained machine learning models that filter ambient background noise out and recognise bowel sounds with 97% accuracy.
The device houses a custom ‘Smart Ear’ sensor array, alongside membrane components and a Li-ion battery. The recyclable housing has a simple on/off button, is smooth to the touch and can be easily cleaned. After an initial 2-week stage of model personalisation, the unique bowel patterns of a user can be correlated with time in relation to passing stool. Predictions can then be given. The device is paired with an app that guides users through device placement, initial information logging, and delivers timely and customisable notifications to a user’s phone or smart-watch.
Pera is completely non-invasive. The device discreetly adheres with a patch to a user’s lower tummy and analyses bowel sound activity in real-time. This is achieved using trained machine learning models that filter ambient background noise out and recognise bowel sounds with 97% accuracy.
The device houses a custom ‘Smart Ear’ sensor array, alongside membrane components and a Li-ion battery. The recyclable housing has a simple on/off button, is smooth to the touch and can be easily cleaned. After an initial 2-week stage of model personalisation, the unique bowel patterns of a user can be correlated with time in relation to passing stool. Predictions can then be given. The device is paired with an app that guides users through device placement, initial information logging, and delivers timely and customisable notifications to a user’s phone or smart-watch.
Being a Giraffe (2023)
A VR kit with controllers that transforms zoo visits into interactive conservation education, enhancing empathy and understanding of giraffes and ecosystems.
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2024 Innovate UK Immersive Tech Awards - Best Technical Innovation
2023 Exhibition at HSBC HQ London
2022 AcrossRCA Project from
Royal College of Art
2023 Solo-X project from Imperial College London / Royal College of Art
A VR kit with controllers that transforms zoo visits into interactive conservation education, enhancing empathy and understanding of giraffes and ecosystems.
watch a video ︎
2024 Innovate UK Immersive Tech Awards - Best Technical Innovation
2023 Exhibition at HSBC HQ London
2022 AcrossRCA Project from
Royal College of Art
2023 Solo-X project from Imperial College London / Royal College of Art
Being a Giraffe is a VR experience with controllers that simulates giraffe life, enhancing empathy and awareness. It addresses the 30% decline in giraffe populations since the 1980s by promoting active learning and environmental stewardship.
Being a Giraffe integrates advanced VR technology with a physical controller designed to simulate the experience of being a giraffe. The system uses Unreal Engine to create a realistic African savannah environment where users, equipped with VR headsets and a giraffe-like controller, navigate through life-like challenges. These challenges include foraging and interacting with the ecosystem, all designed to provide an immersive, multi-sensory educational experience.
This setup not only allows users to see and hear what a giraffe would but also to physically move like one, enhancing both the realism and educational value of the experience.
Being a Giraffe integrates advanced VR technology with a physical controller designed to simulate the experience of being a giraffe. The system uses Unreal Engine to create a realistic African savannah environment where users, equipped with VR headsets and a giraffe-like controller, navigate through life-like challenges. These challenges include foraging and interacting with the ecosystem, all designed to provide an immersive, multi-sensory educational experience.
This setup not only allows users to see and hear what a giraffe would but also to physically move like one, enhancing both the realism and educational value of the experience.
NovaHive (2022)
A digitally-gleaned, beeswax beehive designed for sustainable bee protection and research
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KOREA+SWEDEN YOUNG DESIGN AWARD 2021 - GRAND PRIZE WINNER
2022 Renovators Shortlist Award from OPPO
20.09.22-25.09.22 20th London Design Festival
OPPO Renovators 2022-Emerging Artists Project, Cromwell Place Lavery Studio, London
08.10.21-10.10.21 Design Korea 2021-Korea+Sweden Young Design Award, Seoul
NovaHive is a speculative design project that combines natural and digital techniques to create a protective, research-oriented beehive. This stone-shaped beehive, constructed using a two-layer structure, leverages beeswax for the inner honeycomb and translucent resin for the outer shield.
The design is inspired by the instinctive behaviors of East Asian honeybees, with the form of the beehive mirroring that of stones, a common nesting location for these bees. This was achieved through "digital gleaning" – scanning, modifying, and 3D printing natural stone structures to create a bee-friendly design.
Key to this project is the use of beeswax, a sustainable byproduct of the honeybee life cycle, in constructing the honeycomb, emphasizing the "from bees to bees" principle. Furthermore, the outer resin shield not only offers protection but also allows for observational research into bees' construction processes.
Mandarin Language Learning Module (2023)
An interactive tool for Mandarin pronunciation and handwriting practice using dynamic visualizations.
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Cyber Physical Systems 2022 from
Imperial College London and
Royal College of Art
An interactive tool for Mandarin pronunciation and handwriting practice using dynamic visualizations.
watch a video ︎
Cyber Physical Systems 2022 from
Imperial College London and
Royal College of Art
The project by Hanju Seo, Sabrina Tian, and Xinyi Zhou introduces an innovative system that utilizes Wekinator and 3D visualizations to aid in learning Mandarin Chinese pronunciation and character writing.
The system demonstrates the correct stroke order and pronunciation for several elementary Mandarin characters.
Supplementary materials like codes and 3D models are provided for further development and replication.
The system demonstrates the correct stroke order and pronunciation for several elementary Mandarin characters.
Supplementary materials like codes and 3D models are provided for further development and replication.
BranchLink (2021)
3D printed PLA scaffolding to connect tree branches, forming a novel interface between natural resources and digital-based artefacts.
3D printed PLA scaffolding to connect tree branches, forming a novel interface between natural resources and digital-based artefacts.
BranchLink innovatively merges natural elements and digital technology by creating unique multi-connected structures using 3D printed PLA scaffolds and discarded tree branches.
Inspired by exploring the potential value in physically connecting natural resources and digital artifacts, this project utilizes 3D scanning techniques to design scaffolds that respect the original form of each branch.
BranchLink exemplifies the fusion of the natural and digital worlds, transforming discarded branches into functional structures that highlight sustainability and resource conservation, embodying the profound possibilities that emerge when nature and technology intersect.
Inspired by exploring the potential value in physically connecting natural resources and digital artifacts, this project utilizes 3D scanning techniques to design scaffolds that respect the original form of each branch.
BranchLink exemplifies the fusion of the natural and digital worlds, transforming discarded branches into functional structures that highlight sustainability and resource conservation, embodying the profound possibilities that emerge when nature and technology intersect.