Nell Bennett

MYtempo

(Group Project) 

_MYtempo  is a wearable device that improves your capacity to manage the pressures of time and stress in your daily life. It enables you to become more alert or to relax, without drugs such as caffeine or alcohol, or time-consuming methods such as meditation. It does this through the application of a phenomenon called heart rate entrainment, by which our internal biological rhythms, in this case heart rate, can synch up with an external beat. From this we created and tested a new way of achieving this effect using a tactile stimulus that encourages the user’s pulse to respond, raising or lowering their heart rate and so stimulating or relaxing them. The effect is similar to that of listening to upbeat music to wake up or chilled out music to relax but without the associated distraction, so a user can get more control over how they feel and perform.

Coral3

(Solo Project)

Ocean Acidification is a very serious problem that will soon have a catastrophic effect environmentally. Ocean Acidification is a relatively new issue, and so very little work being done to combat it. I have developed a method to create localised de-acidification around coral reefs to strengthen their foundations for biodiversity, coastal protection and touristic enjoyment. The physical outcome is an alkaline substrate structure that is placed up current of the reef. Over time the water flow dissolves the alkaline structure, making the surrounding water less acidic. To ensure this project is financially viable and sustainable there is a large social enterprise aspect involving many players, from subsistence fishermen to dive tourists. It is a very large scale ambitious project aimed at raising awareness and creating significant environmental befit.