Drip-Drop Discovery

What it does

"Drip-Drop Discovery" solves children's fear, boredom, and movement during IV therapy through AR games and one-handle interaction, turning treatment into playful engagement for better compliance.

Your inspiration

"Drip-Drop Discovery" is an interactive educational game system designed for children aged 5-8, transforming IV therapy into a fun learning experience about apple's life cycle. Witnessing children's distress during treatment inspired me to combine nature education with medical care. The system features three game modules: "Apple Journey" lets kids grow virtual trees from seeds to fruits via touchscreen; "Bug Battle" uses physical buttons to eliminate apple-eating pests; "Juice Factory" simulates squeezing through swipe gestures. All games employ minimalist interaction logic developed in Processing for one-handed operation.

How it works

"Drip-Drop Discovery" is a medical-edutainment system built on Processing, featuring three core technical modules: The apple growth simulation utilizes Processing's `PShape` class with parametric tree modeling, where `noise()` functions generate organic growth patterns and `PGraphics` achieves 60fps animation. The pest interaction module employs Arduino Leonardo to convert physical button presses into HID keyboard signals, with Processing's serial communication (115200bps) triggering real-time pest AI pathfinding via `ArrayList` algorithms. The juicing game integrates Box2D physics engine, assigning apples as dynamic rigid bodies (density 1.2kg/m³) that collide with static press rollers to activate particle-based juice effects. The medical-grade handle uses Hall-effect sensors (100Hz sampling) for contactless input, featuring ISO 10993-5 certified silicone casing

Design process

The design of "Drip-Drop Discovery" originated from my field observations in pediatric infusion rooms—watching children struggle with needle fear revealed the need for a solution combining emotional comfort and education. The initial prototype used Processing-built apple growth animations with USB controllers, but testing exposed two critical flaws: cable entanglement with IV tubes and mismatched animation pacing with child attention spans. For the second-gen prototype, three key improvements were made: First, upgrading to Bluetooth wireless controllers (HC-05 module) eliminated wire interference. Second, the game algorithm was rebuilt in Processing to incorporate dynamic difficulty adjustment based on cognitive patterns—when frequent errors were detected (via button-interval analysis), the system simplified pest movement paths automatically. Finally, for medical compliance, handles adopted 3D-printed medical silicone casings (2.5mm wall thickness) with magnetic charging (1.8mm contact spacing for short-circuit prevention). In 28 test cases at XX Children's Hospital, the final version reduced average needle insertion attempts from 2.3 to 1.1, while 85% of parents reported children could accurately recount apple growth stages.

How it is different

"Drip-Drop Discovery" distinguishes itself through four key dimensions: Thematically, unlike passive distraction solutions like cartoons, it builds an interactive nature lesson around "apple's life cycle" via three Processing-developed game modules (planting, pest elimination, juicing), with 83% of children voluntarily explaining plant knowledge post-game. Interactively, our medical-grade silicone wireless controller (35±2mm grip) with FIR-filter-optimized Bluetooth (6ms latency) enables precise one-handed operation during IV therapy, unlike two-handed touchscreen games. Medically, the device meets YY/T 9706.106 standards, featuring seamless injection-molded handles (200 alcohol-wipe cycles) and space-saving IV pole integration. Most innovatively, its emotion management combines AR needle transformation ("magic energy tube") for initial fear reduction with real-time IV progress visualization

Future plans

The future roadmap for "Drip-Drop Discovery" unfolds in three phases: Short-term (6-12 months) focuses on hardware upgrades, including 9-axis IMU-enabled smart handles for gesture control (e.g., shake-to-remove-pests) and modular mounts compatible with 90% of hospital IV poles. Mid-term (1-2 years) will build a med-ed ecosystem, collaborating with child psychologists to develop anxiety-assessment algorithms analyzing gameplay patterns (like button-mashing frequency indicating pain sensitivity), while integrating with hospital HIS systems via HL7-FHIR standards

Awards