Background
With the development of the food industry, processed foods and premade foods are popularized in daily life. People obtain great convenience, but at the same time, they start to feel estranged to the food they eat. It leads to a series of problems.
50% of Americans think it is easier to do their taxes than to figure out how to eat healthfully. *The IFIC Foundation’s 2012 Food & Health Survey
Medical costs linked to obesity were estimated to be $147 billion in 2008. *Annual Medical Spending Attributable To Obesity by Eric A. Finkelstein & others
Research
This project was started from an anthropological study. The initial target was to research the phenomenon of cultural regression of 'living off the land' in the local community, and explore the relationship between people and food in the modern society.
INTERVIEWS
We conducted interviews with groups who have close relationships with the culture of 'living off the land' in local and communities nearby. observed and studied unique perspectives from them to food. From interviews, we found out that they all trying to maintain or rebuild the trust and knowledge of their food through practice.
By following Östen to observe the emotional and cultural value of the food and its source.
Jens and Ylva are a couple who built their own house and grows much of their own food. They also import eco grains for their community.
Ben is a main participator in an urban gardening organization which focus on maintaining community culture about food.
CULTURAL PROBE
This probe allowed us to quickly explore how people might like to engage with their food. From our conversations, we found out that people have more motivation to understanding how food affects them than growing their food.
we provided different vegetable seeds and people could plant them in different spots, which led to a conversation about food.
From conversations, we discovered that people are disconnected from the knowledge about food, farming and needs of their body.
WORKSHOPS
This workshop introduced each of our interviews as a tangible story. Participants read, listened and touched these stories. Then they wrote tags on meaningful links they found among stories, and explained their thoughts.
In this workshop, each participant was assigned a persona. Then they started a discussion of their needs, concerns and expectations around food of this person. We captured inspirations from their conversation to design nume’s ecosystem.
INTERVIEWS WITH USER AND EXPERT
A nutritionist discusses with us the barriers faced by society today in regards to diet and eating well.
- People are most influenced by their social surroundings, flavor and cultural background.
- People don’t always feel better when they are on a diet so they stop eating well.
A new mom talks to us about her ever-changing understanding about nutrition before, during and after being pregnant.
- Overwhelming amount of information.
- People are told what not to eat instead of what to eat. They are not given substitutes for the food they stop eating.
PROBLEM DEFINITION
Instant feedback
After people eat food, their bodies need several hours to digest, absorb and then react to the food. People often mistake influences from the food they eat for other factors in daily life.
long-term impact
More commonly, daily dietetic habits have a gradually accumulated impact over the years, which could be easily found in many food & health surveys. But for individuals, it's difficult to recognize.
DESIGN SCOPE
Knowing that a banana contains 422 mg of potassium is not very helpful for the user. But the information that your low potassium might be the cause of feeling tired and it can be fixed by adding some bananas to your diet sounds much better.
RESULT
nume is a personal nutrition assistant who gives you actionable advice and meaningful feedback on your status. nume provides you with dietary advice which considers both your taste and nutritive equilibrium. It will also lead you to gradually observe how food subtly influences your body.
CONCEPT VIDEO
ECOSYSTEM OF NUME
Mobile App
The APP is a non-intrusive companion providing the user personalized dietary recommendations which motivate the user to eat healthier.
Nutri Patch
It works as a second layer of skin reading values from user's blood and sweat through non-invasive transdermal technology. With tactile feedback of changing its texture, it gives the user a quickly overview of their body.
Nutri Printer
For users who need extra supplementary support, the printer can print personalized Nutri Drops that help users overcome any nutritional deficiencies they might have.
Nutri Drops
Based on precise measurements of the user's nutritional deficiencies through the Nutri Patch, Nutri Drops contain what the user exactly need.
WHAT MAKES NUME UNIQUE?
- Low threshold
Each year, Microsoft Research sponsors a semester-long class at leading design schools. Students are asked to form interdisciplinary teams of two to four students to design a user experience prototype that solves a real-world problem. From these groups, a representative team from each
- Non-intrusive service
Not like current systems and applications which require high levels of user participation, with CUI and AI, nume could learn and adapt its functions to users' needs while behind the background of their daily lives.
- The feedback loop
Through creating a continuous and conversational experience, nume builds a feedback loop which not only motivates users to make healthier lifestyle decisions, but also helps nume learn and understand users better, and provide more precise dietary options.
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