Digestive Tumble

Simple.

Digestive Tumble had multiple aims: Our first aim was to develop a simplified representation of the complex processes of the human digestive system. Instead of representing the anatomical structure of organs, we focused on visualising the differences in the processes to support deeper reflection on dietary choices. Secondly, we focused on creating a system that has personal relevance, where users can see how their different meals get digested in the body. Next, we aimed at facilitating shared understanding on one’s digestive processes, where family members can reflect on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of each other’s dietary choices. Our final aim was to create a glanceable reflection tool that does not require continuous attention of users, instead can work silently in the vicinity like a clock. The design mimics the slowness of our digestive system, where the digestion rate varies from a couple of hours to days for different food groups.

Grounded.

Digestive Tumble demonstrates how the food goes through different processes by using physical metaphors like tokens and beads. Following the Australian Dietary Guideline, we categorized different food items into five main groups: grains, meat, fruits, vegetables and dairy. These food groups are represented through colorful tokens. The system takes a couple of hours to show the digestion of a meal, where the time varies depending upon the food composition of the meal. For instance, fruits and vegetables are high in fibre, hence get easily digested; whereas grains, meat and dairy follow slow digestion. The system also utilises audio and visual representations to show the internal transformations of food. Finally, taking inspiration from the ‘body as a factory’ analogy, we used familiar metaphors of machines and industrial processes to visualise the digestive processes. For instance, while mechanisms like conveyor belt, and hold and release claws are used to represent the processes; geometrical figures like square, rectangle and L-shapes are used to design the modules. Digestive Tumble includes a certain level of abstraction to simplify the complex digestive processes so that users can easily understand the processes and can use the system safely at home. For instance, the excretion process does not contain the stigmatic details like colour, shape or odour of the stool, hence providing opportunities to discuss the processes both in general and in relation to one’s body. By externalizing the internal processes and putting them out on display, we aim to remove the stigma on discussing one’s digestive health.