A hygienic humidifier for children
2021
Creative Direction
Industrial Design Lead
Visualization
Solidworks
Keyshot
Blender
In the wake of the pandemic, people around the world returned to their homes as places of safety, comfort, and most importantly, well-being. In this rise of increased hygiene awareness, many consumers turned their attention to something that was familiar yet invisible: the air.
Humidifiers play a key role in maintaining both comfortable and healthy air conditions. Children experiencing sensitive skin and respiratory conditions greatly benefit from humidified air, yet many current market offerings have downsides that could do more harm than good.
Designed for children, made with parents. Humi's friendly form and colors allow it to fit into any room. With child-lockable controls and a display that dims at night, Humi can keep working quietly and reliably to care for the people you care for the most.
Making refilling a breeze. With Humi, there’s no more spilling or cautiously tiptoeing while moving or refilling your humidifier. With its built-in handle, consumers can easily move Humi around the home, stow it away in a closet, or prepare it for cleaning.
After analyzing current research about humidifiers and existing products, I listened and spoke with 40 parents and caregivers about their current experience with humidifiers. Through our conversations, two main themes rose to the surface
It became clear that although parents saw the benefit of humidifiers, many struggled to follow the suggested maintenance of cleaning their humidifier's parts, allowing the possibility of introducing harmful mold and pathogens into the air.
After extensive research and parent interviews, evaporative humidifier technology was chosen because of its simplicity and hygienic method of humidification. Evaporative humidifiers add moisture to the air by evaporating water through a porous medium like a paper wick.
Unlike the other technologies, evaporation can't spread germs or minerals found in the water into the air. However, most evaporative humidifiers are prone to mold and bacterial growth if not maintained consistently. So, I began testing and building prototypes that explored ways to effectively humidify while also being easy to maintain.
Explored and Tested. Early prototypes of Humi explored porous materials like terracotta as a rigid washable wick. Numerous prototypes were created to accelerate airflow, taking inspiration from rocket engines. While effective, terracotta's low durability eventually made it a nonviable option for the rambunctious lives of busy parents and children.
All the humidity with none of the germs and minerals. Using the principle of evaporation, Humi provides humidified air that doesn’t disperse minerals or pathogens into the air. Water is dripped through an absorbent pad so that when air passes through, it becomes humidified. Unlike disposable pads found in evaporative humidifiers on the market, Humi uses a re-washable polyester foam pad that can be washed by hand or placed in a washing machine.
