IoT
Smart Home
Vapra - Smart Essential Oil Diffuser
Designing a smart essential oil diffuser and its app for users to achieve relaxation and a personalized home environment
Project Overview
Many people struggle to relax at home due to stress and environmental distractions. Vapra transforms living spaces into personal sanctuaries by integrating scent, light, and air quality to create a calming atmosphere. Connected to Philips smart home systems such as Hue lights and air purifiers, Vapra uses NOWATCH data to adjust scents based on users’ mood and air quality. With six core scents, it offers tailored aromatherapy for relaxation and comfort.
Fall Quarter 2023
(5 weeks)
Summary
Problems
People often find it hard to relax at home due to stress, noise, and lack of sensory comfort. Most diffusers don’t personalize adjustment to mood or environment, and they rarely connect with smart home systems.
Solution
Vapra is a smart diffuser with a companion app that adjusts scent based on mood and environment. It connects with Philips smart devices and lets users personalize blends, creating a calm, responsive home experience.
Final App Design Highlights
Creating a Connected Sensory Experience
Imagine walking into your home and instantly feeling at ease—your diffuser knows your mood, adjusts the lighting, and fills the air with the perfect scent for relaxation. Vapra transforms your space into a truly harmonious sanctuary.
Smart Scent Matching
Effortlessly detect room conditions and user mood through the app to deliver the perfect scent for every moment.
Personalized Blending
Empower users to manually create the perfect scent blend tailored to their current mood and preferences.
Easy Device Setup
Easily set up and connect a new diffuser in just a few steps, ensuring a smooth and personalized experience.
Design Process
Explore
Problems
Transforming Homes into Sanctuaries of Relaxation
Stress from Work
Diffusers are a preferred choice for home scents, providing modern functionality.
Urban Living Challenges
Difficulty Relaxing at Home
Homes fail to provide the peace and balance people need.
Research
Why a Diffuser?
Harnessing the Power of Scent to Transform Home Environments
Brain-Scents Connection
Scents bypass the thalamus and directly influence emotions and memory via the amygdala and hippocampus.
Benefits of Aromatherapy
Popularity of Diffusers
Diffusers are a top choice for home scents, offering lasting fragrance and modern functionality.
Why PHILIPS?
Aligning Innovation, Design, and Wellness for a Seamless Experience
Innovative Spirit
Philips' legacy of innovation aligns seamlessly with the forward-thinking vision of this smart fragrance device.
Design Style
Philips is known for its modern designs. Opting for Philips ensures the smart diffuser will be both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
Health and Wellness Focus
Synergy with Smart Home Ecosystem
Philips’ smart home products, like Hue lighting, create a synchronized and immersive user experience when integrated with the fragrance device.
Competitors
Design Insights from Competitive Analysis
An analysis of four smart diffusers on the market revealed that none offered customizable scents, presenting an opportunity to enhance my product's competitive edge.
Audience Interview Insights
Primary Purposes of Using Fragrances
To alleviate anxiety and promote relaxation.
To create a sense of daily ritual and mindfulness.
Ambiance Matters
Users highly value the atmosphere created by fragrance devices such as candles, incense, and humidifiers.
These devices play a key role in shaping the atmosphere of a space.
Visual and Sensory Appeal
Light effects (e.g., candle flames or device lighting) enhance the visual experience.
Smoke from incense and soothing accompanying sounds add to the overall sensory satisfaction.
From Insights to Innovation
Key Takeaways Driving the Smart Diffuser Design
Scents enhance mood and relaxation, making a smart diffuser the ideal solution.
No existing diffusers offer smart home integration and customizable scents, highlighting an opportunity.
Users value the calming ambiance of candles, highlighting the importance of visual and spatial elements in the product design.
Design
Integrated Living with Vapra
Enhancing the Philips Smart Home Ecosystem Through Scent and Sensory Harmony
The diffuser works independently but connects seamlessly with Philips smart devices, offering users a richer and more immersive sensory experience.
Smart Diffuser Features
Revolutionizing Fragrance with Intelligent Technology
Design System
Design System for a Relaxing User Experience
The app's design incorporates soothing browns and greens to evoke tranquility and a deeper connection to nature, enhancing the overall calming experience.
All Screens
Explore Every Screen at a Glance
Discover all the app’s pages, designed to provide a seamless and intuitive user journey for controlling your smart diffuser.
Conclusion
What I learned
Integrating UX into Product Design
Merging my industrial design background with UX methodologies taught me to prioritize user experience, ensuring the product is both functional and enjoyable to use.
Designing for Smart Home Ecosystems
I gained insights into smart home operations and learned to connect my design seamlessly with existing products, ensuring a cohesive user experience within the ecosystem.
