Joyn One

Master’s thesis project 2018-2019
Abstract:
Joyn One is the master’s thesis of Gido Grooten, realized in the academic year 2018–2019, under the supervision of Kristof Vaes (Product Development, UA) and Stijn Verwulgen (Product Development, UA). The design was developed within an interdisciplinary team in which close collaboration took place with students from the physiotherapy program. The Joyn One is a fully 3D-printed arm prosthesis for children aged 8 to 12. In addition to a custom-made EMG-controlled prosthetic arm, the Joyn One also addresses the user’s motivation to support prosthesis training. The Joyn One uses a digital gamification platform to which the prosthetic arm is linked. The platform ensures that the child, with the help of a linked avatar, is motivated in a fun and playful way to carry out the prosthesis training prescribed by the rehabilitation physician through digital games.
Problem Statement
Because many arm prostheses for children are stigmatizing and children are often more skilled at performing everyday actions withtheir stump, prostheses within this target group are frequently rejected and therefore not used. Given the fact that many adults with an arm amputation use electronic prostheses, it is important to prepare children for this at a young age.
Gamification Platform
The gamification platform ensures that the child is motivated to use the prosthesis and to correctly perform prosthesis training. Because the platform is linked to the prosthesis, the Joyn One user can carry out prosthesis training prescribed by a rehabilitation physician in a child-friendly and playful way. Through the LEDs on the prosthesis, the user receives notifications from the platform when actions are required. Because the muscle signals in the stump can be read and processed into digital signals, they can be linked to specific actions within a digital game. In this way, children can train and improve their muscle signals by playing video games.
Each prosthesis is linked to a personal avatar or buddy that must be taken care of by the user. Caring for this avatar can be done by correctly performing the prosthesis training. The avatar will also continue to grow, while the prosthesis training will become increasingly complex.
Fairings
The prosthesis is equipped with interchangeable fairings that allow the child to give the prosthesis their own look. These fairings are attached to the prosthesis using a hook/magnet system and are therefore easy to replace or exchange. Thanks to the versatile possibilities of 3D printing, different colors and shapes can be applied to the fairings.