This blog provides a forum for students, instructors and others to share information and ideas about the Spring Thesis Program at Parsons the New School for Design in New York City.
HI HS, Sorry it has taken so long for me to comment on this post. I think that you are going in a good direction, and your user testing, so far, is helping you see where you need to improve your design. I think that your concept is very strong: I would like to sleep high up in a tree while camping instead of on the ground. But, it will require a lot of planning to make this work. As you are finding, it is not so easy to sleep at an angle. People really need to be horizontal. Hammocks are very comfortable, and they can be very light and easy to carry in a back pack, so this seems like the right approach. The problem is that you need to develop a structure that will be light enough to carry, easy to set up dismantle, and comfortable to sleep in. I think you should also consider including some kind of shroud or cover to protect you from insects and rain.
The difficulty is that most hammocks are made to hang from two points that are fairly far apart. You will need to build a structure that can support a person's weight but is only supported from a single point, the trunk of the tree. So, I think that you need some compression elements (like tent poles) and tension elements (ropes or straps). Poles can be made very light and can fold up, so if you don't use too many, you will still be able to carry it. I think that you should investigate various tent designs to see how the poles and fabric are used together to create a stable structure. There are many different ways to do this, and there are many tents on the market that you can use as model. Please let me know if I can help you as you plan your user testing and prototyping. steven
2 comments:
HI HS,
Sorry it has taken so long for me to comment on this post. I think that you are going in a good direction, and your user testing, so far, is helping you see where you need to improve your design. I think that your concept is very strong: I would like to sleep high up in a tree while camping instead of on the ground. But, it will require a lot of planning to make this work. As you are finding, it is not so easy to sleep at an angle. People really need to be horizontal. Hammocks are very comfortable, and they can be very light and easy to carry in a back pack, so this seems like the right approach. The problem is that you need to develop a structure that will be light enough to carry, easy to set up dismantle, and comfortable to sleep in. I think you should also consider including some kind of shroud or cover to protect you from insects and rain.
The difficulty is that most hammocks are made to hang from two points that are fairly far apart. You will need to build a structure that can support a person's weight but is only supported from a single point, the trunk of the tree. So, I think that you need some compression elements (like tent poles) and tension elements (ropes or straps). Poles can be made very light and can fold up, so if you don't use too many, you will still be able to carry it. I think that you should investigate various tent designs to see how the poles and fabric are used together to create a stable structure. There are many different ways to do this, and there are many tents on the market that you can use as model. Please let me know if I can help you as you plan your user testing and prototyping.
steven
Thank you. :)
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