We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Yuka Fukuoka about their original and creative Stuttering Experience Device design work. Yuka Fukuoka is an award-winning communication designer, that makes our world a better place with their original stuttering experience device works.
Yuka Fukuoka ("YF") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Stacha Stuttering Experience Device. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
YF : The STACHA is a device which enables wearers to experience the symptoms of stuttering. When a person with this disorder stutters, a distinguishing feature is an overactive usage of the muscles in the throat. Coming up with this device had a lot to do with my own stuttering issues as well as the strong awareness of the topic that comes with it. Additionally, when I was working with the University of Tokyo on a documentary about someone who took a job as school counselor despite her stuttering, I realized that she too, was suffering due to the low awareness towards stuttering disorders. I had an insight that told me it was essential to raise awareness around this invisible condition. In addition, Until now, innovative hardware and software focused on stuttering had not been developed. Social awareness of stuttering has also remained low, since almost all of the existing products deal with people who stutter. I realized that our device will shift the paradigm of stuttering and speech impediments as a whole, so I started to create STACHA device.
YF : The device offers a very light experience that helps cultivate empathy towards people with unseen disabilities within regional communities. For instance, it is very likely for a stutterer to also suffer of anxiety disorders, but by using the wearable device, it is possible to spread awareness regarding this condition throughout the regional community and without relying on communication. Ultimately, once awareness towards stuttering has been raised, those who suffer the condition will feel less pressure when communicating with those who don't. And from there, we are planning to encourage sympathy towards the stutterers in the community. The difficult task of "understanding the disability" can instead become a fun experience, one that catches the interest of people regardless of age (which makes for an effective advertisement) and one that offers a fun learning opportunity. Simply by giving a body to something that can't be normally seen, you can draw the interest of the people quite easily.
YF : Our next challenge is to address the safety issues regarding the use of the device by children, as quite many pointed out.
YF : Myself suffering of stuttering was my initial motivation. Since stuttering is not very openly known, many people think you can treat it if you just keep trying, that it is a simple matter of mentality, and that it is caused by low intelligence.
YF : Particularly, STACHA is focusing on people who have stuttering in Japan.
YF : Arduino,C++, Eagle,Rhino, Keyshot, Fusion360, Illustrator,Photoshop, HTML,CSS, Javascript
YF : Until now, innovative hardware and software focused on stuttering had not been developed. Social awareness of stuttering has also remained low, since almost all of the existing products deal with people who stutter. Our device will shift the paradigm of stuttering and speech impediments as a whole.
YF : I contacted my engineer friends, who approved of my idea and gathered together to start developing the device.
YF : I had many opportunities to communicate with all the people who participate in a stuttering self-help group known as Tokyo Genyukai. I also interviewed people from stuttering circles in the University of Tokyo, as well as individuals who research stuttering disorder from a medical perspective.
YF : It is likely that in the future, technology will solve the issues we once had as humankind by enhancing the abilities of our race. In other words, insights from interviews with designers and the imagination that arises from our own sketching minds will pinpoint the true essence of our problems, and offer solid solutions to tackle them with. This is will be exceedingly important in the times to come. I believe that wearable devices are an extremely effective solution that will help me continue tackling said challenges as a designer in those areas.
