Dezeen School Shows: a wearable device designed to regulate a person’s breathing when anxious is among the industrial design projects by students at University of Illinois Chicago.
Also featured is an app that advises on plant care and a robot designed to reimagine human-AI relationships.
University of Illinois Chicago
Institution: University of Illinois Chicago
School: School of Design
Course: MDES Industrial Design
School statement:
“Our Master of Design (MDes) in Industrial Design programme aims to broaden students’ worldviews and deepen their understanding of their roles as designers through studio classes, workshops, seminars, lectures, visits and opportunities for regional and international travel.
“MDes student design projects are not merely formal and aesthetic propositions, but also profound explorations that scrutinise the complex interplay between the natural and artificial elements in society and global culture.
“Concluding the programme, each MDes student explores a topic of inquiry in which they contextualise and formulate a position and develop tangible designer-like responses.
“This process entails a broad range of engagement and adopts a holistic approach, encouraging and empowering students to blend theory with practice.”
Ubuntu by Chioma Nwachukwu
“In many communities, immigrants are often expected to shed parts of their cultural identity in order to fit in. This expectation leads to an erasure of rich cultural narratives and hinders opportunities for meaningful connections between immigrants and their local communities.
“How might design create opportunities for reciprocal engagement by addressing inequalities in cultural exchange amongst host and immigrant communities? This project proposes using food as an avenue for shared experiences between people from disparate communities.
“By introducing interactive elements and cultural narratives into different stages of the dining experience, the truck creates an environment where people not only participate in a culinary experience, but also gain a deeper understanding of the people and culture behind it.
“This project challenges the idea that assimilation requires a loss of cultural identity and celebrates the richness that cultural diversity brings to a community.”
Student: Chioma Nwachukwu
Email: cnwach4[at]uic.edu
Schwa by Minoo Marasi
“Schwa is a breathing companion designed to gently guide anxious bodies back to calm.
“Inspired by a therapeutic hug, where one person’s steady breath helps regulate another, Schwa offers a rhythmic rise and fall across the chest, inviting the wearer to unconsciously synchronise their breath.
“Its quiet form blends into daily life, offering support without demanding attention. When activated, it engages the body’s somatic intelligence – not through thought, but through feeling.
“Schwa creates a moment of reconnection, restoring a sense of safety and ease. It is not a crutch, but a quiet co-regulator – a companion, a breath you can lean on.”
Student: Minoo Marasi
Email: mmaras5[at]uic.edu
For All by Nick Anaclerio
“The Federal Bureau of Goods Issuance was established 20 years ago to identify objects suitable for decommodification and to develop standardised alternatives to these products for universal public issuance.
“In this touring retrospective exhibition, the Bureau highlights several touchstone projects from its history. Here the public can look behind the scenes at how the Bureau’s Office of Design and Development creates the products we use today.
“Pictured, a Bureau-issue mechanical pencil (struck 2017, Philadelphia mint), now in circulation nationwide.”
Student: Nick Anaclerio
Email: nanacl2[at]uic.edu
Objects of Divine Success: Epitome Collection by Rae MacCarthy
“It is, undoubtedly, through the quality of our things that we make manifest the quality of our selves. In antiquity, to epitomise was to condense lifetimes of writing and knowledge into a purer form whilst retaining the original spirit.
“The Epitome collection aims to do just that – to distill the practices and knowledges of the successful into six beautiful objects for the office. These are objects that enable one to tap into this wealth of accumulated worship directly and adequately reflect the superior quality of the successful self.”
Student: Rae MacCarthy
Email: rmacc[at]uic.edu
Weaning Design by Malwina Mercado
“LeafIQ applies Weaning Design – a framework that reimagines how products support learning by promoting autonomy over dependency.
“In a world of quick fixes and passive consumption, Weaning Design positions tools as temporary guides: structured, tactile and skill specific.
“LeafIQ turns plant care into a hands-on learning journey, using analogue products and a companion app to teach foundational skills like watering and placement.
“As users build competence, external support fades, allowing intuition and confidence to take root. This approach shifts design from being a solution provider to a learning partner, empowering users to grow through doing, not just knowing.”
Student: Malwina Mercado
Email: panek2[at]uic.edu
POCO – a soft companion robot for everyday emotional support by Mehrnaz Amouei
“POCO is a soft robotic companion that reimagines human-AI relationships through constructive interdependence.
“Instead of disembodied digital assistants, POCO offers a tactile, emotive presence. It pairs a smartphone with a responsive soft body that moves, gestures and breathes.
“By embedding the smartphone within a living, companion-like form, POCO shifts it from a distraction tool to a source of emotional connection.
“Neither part functions alone; their symbiosis encourages care, grounding and a slower, more organic interaction. It’s a new kind of interface that shares space, does not demand it, and makes intelligence something you feel, not just use.”
Student: Mehrnaz Amouei
Email: mamou3[at]uic.edu
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and UIC School of Design. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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