For children with ADHD, falling asleep can be a nightly battle. Winding down at bedtime is put off again and again by obstacles like racing thoughts, restless leg syndrome, nightmares and bed-wetting. These night-time symptoms can compound over time, making children more irritable and less attentive during the day to day - meaning trouble in school, with friends, with family, and keeping long-term mental health in check. The Stingray Lamp is designed to help children of this community relax before bed, encouraging restful sleep for the child (and therefore, the parents).
The Stingray Lamp has a warm-pink light source, which studies have suggested have a calming, almost tranquilizing effect after 10-15 minutes of exposure*. The particular hue is important to its function - leaning toward the warm end of the spectrum, this frequency of visible light is not harsh on the eyes at night and does not interfere with melatonin production as cooler hues often can. By turning on the Stingray Lamp shortly before bedtime every night, your child with fall asleep much easier - and restful sleep means healthier, more productive days.
*No other light source should be present while the Stingray Lamp is in use, for optimal effect.
This project was done in Jennaca Davies' Lighting Design course, where students were prompted to design children’s lighting. While mental health products tend to be a theme I keep returning to, this particular project was inspired by what I see as a gaping hole in the market. Prior to the assignment, we had all done our own research on different aspects of lighting that we were interested in, whether it be lighting manufacturing, lighting history, etc. I chose to focus on medical applications of visible light, which led me to the research of photo and chromo-therapy practices in the United States. While there seems to be skepticism surrounding the true medical benefits of these colored light-related therapies, especially in Western medicine, there are examples that can be found that have been widely accepted. For example, chromotherapy is used to treat Jaundice in newborns, where a small blanket emitting blue-green light is wrapped around the child for set intervals of time. The blue-green light must be in the 400 - 520 nm range in order to penetrate the newborn tissue and help break down excessive buildup of bilirubin in the blood. UVB light is frequently used to treat skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema and acne. In fact, the non-visible light spectrum can be found everywhere in Western medicine, from X-Ray and Chemotherapy technology to lamps that can potentially help ease Seasonal Affective Disorder or Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders.
The decision to use pink lighting came from research into a specific hue of pink, called “Baker Miller Pink”. If this sounds familiar, it is because this shade of pink was used to paint prison holding cells across the country beginning in the 1960s. The particular pink has shown to reduce hostility, anger and aggression in inmates during a period where they are more likely to be upset. Baker Miller pink was then subsequently adopted by Juvenile Detention centers to help calm aggression in Juveniles. Since then, a government study found that those with ASD or are on the autistic spectrum find pink a preferable and soothing color, as members of this community can be easily overstimulated. It has also been effectively used in anger-management, addiction, and mental health treatment programs. The Stingray Lamp provides an affordable, non-invasive treatment option for children living with ADHD.
Process Images:
I needed to model the lamp in Rhino 3D to figure out where hardware would land, how it would attach to the wall, how much clearance was needed for the lightbulbs, etc. Below is a quick sketch rendering for this purpose:
After modeling the Stingray Lamp in Rhino, I flattened the image to assess how much distortion I was dealing with after slip rolling the metal. I then placed that vector into Illustrator to create the laser cutter file, and came up with a quick visual rendering:
