Reimagined the toy kitchen for adults to engage with their senses and practice mindfulness.

In our fast-paced, digitally saturated world, we often neglect the joy of sensory experiences. The everyday hustle leaves little room for mindful engagement with our surroundings, leading to a disconnection from our senses.

We need spaces that encourage us to pause, immerse ourselves, and rediscover the magic hidden within our daily rituals.

Children are a perfect example of what it means to be mindful as it comes naturally to them. They engage in all their senses in play.

The all-white kitchen emphasizes the moments that truly matter, guiding users’ focus to meaningful interactions.

Curated sensory experiences—the sizzle of a pan on the stove, the calming sound of water pouring from a teapot, and the rhythmic flow of water in the sink—fosters mindfulness and emotional well-being.

The sensory-driven space enhances motor skill recovery for physical therapy and emotional wellbeing for Alzheimer's patients.

Taking inspiration from children’s toys and my personal favorite, I transformed the Toy Kitchen into the Whimsical Kitchen - an immersive experience designed to revive wonder and engage often overlooked senses.

The Whimsical Kitchen allows for the same routines one typically does in a kitchen, without the mess and hazards of a real kitchen.

Process

01 IDEATION

The ideation process commenced with an exploration of children's toys, where the toy kitchen emerged as profoundly relevant to adulthood, and reminiscent of my cherished childhood memories. I then curated a mood board envisioning an all-white palette to accentuate the underlying enchantment.

Opting for a life-sized rendition, the aim was to seamlessly blend a playful concept into an adult setting. Through numerous sketches and iterations, the design journey navigated varied possibilities before coming into its final form.

02 TECHNOLOGY INTERFACE

To craft the technological interface, I selected Adafruit's QtPy ESP32 microcontroller as the foundation. For the stove, an LED Strip coupled with a potentiometer was integrated. While originally intending to utilize RFID for the pot, technical complications led to a streamlined solution via a simple button.

Activating the faucet involved another potentiometer, while the teapot incorporated an ADXL345 3-Axis Accelerometer. The auditory elements were generated using an MP3-TF-16P Arduino Player interconnected with a speaker to deliver the immersive soundscape.

03 BUILD

To materialize my initial sketches, I began by creating a half-scale cardboard prototype. This miniature model provided invaluable insights into the layout and placement of various kitchen elements, serving as a guide for the full-scale build.

Transitioning to the full-scale construction, I repurposed an unused shelf cart as the foundational structure, providing stability and mobility with added wheels. Building upon this framework, I utilized foam core to sculpt the intricate details of the kitchen. The choice of foam core allowed for maximum customization and imparted a deliberate lower fidelity, preserving the essence of a prototype without detracting from the enchanting experience.

Concurrently, I integrated the previously developed technology into the kitchen setup, discreetly embedding it beneath the countertop. This strategic integration aimed to maintain the kitchen's outward appearance as conventional, while the underlying magic remained hidden, offering an unexpected surprise. Additionally, I designed the layout to encourage exploration, allowing participants to organically discover each enchanting element as they navigate through the space at their own pace.

LESSON LEARNED

Through building the Whimsical Kitchen, I’ve learned the power of imagination by reflecting on childhood play and the loss of that childlike sense of wonder in adulthood. This project also invites me to reflect on my own routines in the kitchen as I continue to explore additional interactions for the Whimsical Kitchen

Whimsical Kitchen

Reimagined the toy kitchen for adults to engage with their senses and practice mindfulness.

In our fast-paced, digitally saturated world, we often neglect the joy of sensory experiences. The everyday hustle leaves little room for mindful engagement with our surroundings, leading to a disconnection from our senses.

We need spaces that encourage us to pause, immerse ourselves, and rediscover the magic hidden within our daily rituals.

Children are a perfect example of what it means to be mindful as it comes naturally to them. They engage in all their senses in play.

Taking inspiration from children’s toys and my personal favorite, I transformed the Toy Kitchen into the Whimsical Kitchen - an immersive experience designed to revive wonder and engage often overlooked senses.

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