October 5th, 2021
We started this project by conducting background research on terms mentioned by the client, Gregory. Since he had a stroke, Gregory has dealt with decreased proprioception. This makes it harder for Gregory to cook, something that he has loved doing his whole life. This project involves designing a device that will aid Gregory in measuring quantities of liquids and foods so that he can properly cook. We are conducting research in order to better understand exactly what challenges Gregory faces in the kitchen. This should help us accurately assess what problems need to be solved and what solutions could be most helpful. We researched the ailment that is afflicting our client, decreased proprioception, and how it affects a person’s body and functions; how decreased proprioception affects Gregory’s daily life and his ability in the kitchen; and existing solutions that are currently used to help people who deal with decreased proprioception or similar conditions.
Proprioception is the body’s ability to detect changes in the environment, such as objects moving or the location of items in one’s surroundings [1]. Proprioception allows the body to complete daily tasks that we do involuntarily, such as walking. This is thanks to proprioceptors, which are sensory receptors located on nerve endings throughout the body, namely in muscles and joints [2].
Reduced proprioception can be caused by various injuries and conditions, but one of the most common causes is a stroke. Approximately 30 to 48% of individuals who had a stroke face proprioceptive deficits in an upper extremity [3], which is a large group of people when considering the number of individuals who suffered from a stroke.
Effects of decreased proprioception can vary, but many face the same daily challenges. Individuals have a hard time judging distance, rate of movement, and where individuals’ limbs are located in relation to their body. This reduction in motor control can affect one’s ability to live independently and complete daily tasks that most people take for granted, such as walking, going up the stairs, maintaining body posture, and activities that require intricate and precise movements [4].
Our client, Gregory, deals with decreased proprioception due to a stroke and one of his main challenges is involved with cooking. Not being able to accurately judge how much liquid is being poured or how large to cut a food item makes cooking extremely difficult. It can also make it quite dangerous, especially when dealing with hot items or sharp objects.
We were able to have two virtual meetings with Gregory where we learned more about his daily experience and watched him demonstrate doing various activities in his home kitchen. Since experiencing a stroke, Gregory has lost all feeling in his left arm and hand. He also currently deals with decreased proprioception, making various daily activities much more difficult for him to do. Since his stroke, it has been harder for Gregory to pour the right amount of coffee from a pot into a glass each morning, to carry heavy objects, to clean dishes, and to open bottles.
Cooking is a lot harder for Gregory nowadays because he can only use one hand and he cannot accurately judge quantities while measuring and pouring. Gregory’s favorite food to cook is soup. For his whole life, Gregory has loved to cook soup without a recipe by just eyeballing various measurements of ingredients. Because Gregory cannot accurately measure quantities now, it is tough for him to make soup in the same way that he used to. Gregory’s wife, Susannah, claims that sometimes he tries to estimate the correct amount of salt to pour into soup and he ends up pouring too much salt without realizing it and the whole soup is ruined. Susannah expressed that it makes things a lot harder for Gregory because he does not follow a recipe while cooking.
Gregory’s current process of making soup is as follows: First, he washes the vegetables. Then, he places them in a pot to sauté them. He then adds water or stock to the pot to make the soup. He usually adds various amounts of seasoning into the soup based on how much he thinks would properly flavor the soup. Susannah sometimes needs to help Gregory add the water to the soup because he has difficulty measuring the correct amount of water to add to the soup.
Currently, there are various products in Gregory’s home kitchen that help him with daily activities. Gregory uses two cutting boards that have rubber bands and clamps that adjust to hold the food in place while he slices the food. He also has special rocker knives that allow him to cut a piece of food using just one hand. Gregory opens cans by using a battery-powered can opener. When Gregory places the device on top of a can and clicks a button, the device automatically cuts the lid off of the can while ensuring that the piece is not sharp. While these products help make Gregory’s cooking process easier, he clearly still faces some challenges in the kitchen that make it difficult for him to succeed at making tasty dishes.
The average cooking supplies and products are not suited for people that are in a similar situation as Gregory. Decreased proprioception creates trouble with visual measurements that are typically used in the cooking process.
During research, our team found only one way that people have solved this problem outside of the regular measuring devices. MaxiAids’ 'Say When Level Indicator’ is a product that helps visually impared people with filling up a glass. When the liquid reaches the prongs it will make a sound so that the user will be alerted that the glass is full. This product helps visual impairments like decreased proprioception by taking some of the visual strain off the user. Instead of looking to see when the glass is full, the user can hear the alert by the MaxiAids so they know when to stop [5]. Even though this product sounds like it will solve the problem on its own, there still needs to be more cleaning up to do. The first issue with MaxiAids is that it isn’t versatile. It won’t fit in larger pots and pans and it doesn’t adjust to the certain level of liquid that is required for the recipe. The other issue with MaxiAids is that it doesn’t solve the pouring process. For Gregory, he is only able to use one arm to pour liquids and his arm can only hold up to 20 lbs. MaxiAids does not solve this part of the problem, so we had to research some pouring solutions that exist as well.
From our research, we found two possible pouring solutions for pouring with one hand. The first pouring product we found was a non lift pouring aid for half gallon and 2 liter jugs called “Pour Thing”. This product lets the user pour the wanted liquid with one hand by gently pulling down on the handle of the product. Once filled to the desired height, the user can then lift the handle back up to its starting position. This helps our intended users because the device can be used with one hand while lowering the amount of force that the user needs to apply [6]. The only problem with this product is that it may not be easy for a person with one operating arm to load the pouring device and that the device might not do well with hot liquids.
The other pouring solution we researched involved no pouring at all. Instead it involved a battery-powered dispenser. The ‘Magic Tap Automatic Drink Dispenser’ is not made for people who have experienced a stroke or similar problem, but this product can definitely be used by these people. The dispenser works by pulling the applied liquid from the jug out through the spout when the trigger is touched. Once the trigger is let go the dispenser will stop. This product is helpful to our intended users because the process of lifting the liquid has been removed [7]. However, the dispenser only fits on to gallon caps and does not work with hot liquids. Ultimately, this does not make the product versatile for other liquids that are seen in the cooking process.