The KidBeats project takes shape through the coordinated work of all partners. Who works in each organization?
People, values and ideas that we want to share with our audience.
Read the second interview to Bart Grimonprez, Industrial Engineer in Industrial Design at Howest University.
Who are you?
My name is Bart Grimonprez. I am an Industrial Engineer in Industrial Design and I’m working for Howest University of applied sciences in Belgium. I’m involved in research and service projects within the Bachelor educational programme of Industrial Product Design.
What’s the organization’s role in the project?
We have tried to gather the demands and wishes thrown at us by the different involved partners within the Kidbeats project, and shape these into a music device. This gave us the opportunity to think about aesthetics, materials used, functionality and interface for the young users. On top of that we needed to create a fully functional device that can be recreated in an environment of a random makerspace were most common expertise and machinery is available. It was a constant balance between possibilities and limitations.
Why did your organization decide to join the project?
Developing products, prototypes, test models, low batch items,… is what we do. In this project these skills were very much needed to combine all input of the involved partners. Sustainability and user experience are two very important aspects in our work field. We feel that we could be a good match to realize the goals in this project: create prototypes that can be tested with children. It is a very enriching process to be able to work with a musicians, psychologists and people in general that work with children and their parents, and develop a prototype from scratch for a device that is unique in several ways.
How do you see the future of the project?
Our point of view is of course on the device itself. We have set a good start for prototypes that can be tested and evaluated. Future actions will involve a focused redesign of electronics and hardware so the music playing device can evolve into a mass production user object, an educational toy. Or, another turn can be to finetune the designs of the components and manuals so organizations, schools or people at home can make and assemble a device of their own with basic and easy obtainable materials and tools.
