Canopy.
Canopy is a design installation at Georgia Tech that spans heavily trafficked areas on college campuses and creates soothing ripple-like movements that initiate once a person enters the space.
Selected by HRI 2025 Student Design Challenge
How can we create a more restorative campus environment?
Reduce mental stress and benefit emotional well-being with the goal of transforming unpleasant environments into more calming spaces
UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF CAMPUS SAFETY
We conducted a research probe to assess campus safety perceptions among Georgia Tech students. Students anonymously marked unsafe and safe locations on campus using red and green pins. 403 data points across two high-traffic locations were overlayed to identify seven major hotspots.
From 57 survey participants:
We cross-referenced this data with survey responses about environmental factors that individuals associated with safe and unsafe spaces such as lighting, visibility, and foot traffic. The findings highlight key attributes regarding the safety of these locations informing our design path by addressing negative features and enhancing positive ones.
The survey responses were categorized into 10 features of unsafe locations and 8 features of safe locations. We decided to hone in on the circled themes, and use them as a starting point for ideation.
Nature has the power to create calm and soothing environments. We wanted to extract forms and movements seen in waves.
Research has shown that such symbolic representations of nature can trigger the same parasympathetic responses as direct interactions, positively impacting cognitive functioning and reducing stress
