Sam Hodgson, a product design student at Leicester’s De Montford University, designed the device to bring nature into an otherwise clinical environment, while at the same time helping patients communicate with their friends and family. 

Consisting of a flat, desktop object with a projector that imposes images onto a flower-shaped extension, his innovation was developed in response to the ban on flowers in hospitals, which came as a result of infection control measures, and uses visual, audio and interactive therapy to create a distraction while increasing a positive state of mind. 

Fundamentally a digital version of a bunch of flowers, or a plant that in the past would have been placed at a patient’s bedside, the device is hooked up to a hospital database and allows the user to flick through different stock images, or others that have been sent from home. Messages from friends and relatives can also be sent to the patient, while music can be played through the directional speakers. Any sound can only heard by the user and will not disturb other patients because of the speakers’ ability to angle the device in one direction.”

The product has already won the DMU Thorpe Kilworth Trust and George Poynton Award, presented by the university to high achievers. 

The 22 year old from Macclesfield said: “Hospitals focus a lot on getting patients physically better, but not necessarily on whether they have a happy state of mind. Positivity and well-being have been proved to be beneficial as they reduce drug and painkiller intake, as well as speeding recovery. I’m hoping this design might be used in hospitals in the future to tackle the holistic side of the patient experience.” 

Through research, Hodgson found a strong link between a patient’s mental and physical well-being and his design uses new technologies such as a micro projector, directional speaker and an interactive messaging system. 

 “I did a lot of research and in particular spoke to Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport to find out about demand and feasibility,” he told HES. “I used CAD software to play about with and tweak the form, then rapid prototyping technologies to produce the parts.” 

He now hopes to work in a design consultancy or other outlet that allows him to use creative thinking and problem-solving skills in design. 

Stuart Lawson, senior lecturer at De Montford, said: “The insight Sam gained through his original research and his subsequent innovative thinking has produced a genuinely new paradigm – a product that is focused resolutely on the users’ needs and which reflects contemporary policies and trends.”