The ePod is an innovative concept created for providing a temporary shelter to the victims affected by natural disasters. The advantages of this ePod concept over conventional halls are the availability of comfortable beds and spacious room for the victims. In fact, the victims will have enough privacy with their family. The designer has created this concept to participate in the competition organized by James Dyson Foundation. The theme of the contest was to “Design something that solves a problem”. ePod perfectly suits the theme and provides a better solution during emergency periods. Apart from the solution itself, the concept has many more advantages.
Inspiration
The world has seen many disasters like Tsunami, earthquakes, terrorism, etc., in the recent years. The devastation effects of these disasters have left thousands of lives homeless, and with no hope to live further. Seeing such critical conditions, the designer realized that he had to do something to save their lives and give them new hope for living. At the right moment, the James Dyson Foundation had announced the contest on this theme. The Ireland based designer rightly used the opportunity not only to provide a solution, but also to exhibit his vision to the world.
Design
With right inspirations, the designer started setting his goals. After visualizing the concept in mind, the designer started making pencil sketches on papers, until he became satisfied with the design. The designer had rightly utilized the help of an engineer by getting his suggestions and critics on the initial sketches. This clearly depicts the designer’s passion in making the concept not only for providing a solution but also to check the feasibility of the concept during the designing process itself. The designer tweaked a lot with the initial sketches. Once, he arrived for a final feasible design, he started making the three dimensional design using the Computer Generated applications.
The availability of privacy to the families of the victims is one of the highlight of this concept. Almost, nobody would give importance to the privacy, during such tragic incidents. ePod also provides green energy for the victims by extracting energy from the sun rays, by means of solar panels designed on the top of the Pod. In fact, the designer wished that ePod will be manufactured from Polyethylene, which is completely recyclable. This feature is possible because of the method in which the body panels are produced. They are manufactured by rotational molding, which is the reason for making the materials of the concept recyclable, but at the same time, making them durable even in extreme weather conditions.
Another highlight of this concept is its cost effective design. Surprisingly, ePod can be manufactured at a rapid rate without incurring heavy costs. The spacious design of the Pod also allows the victims to store their things, which were recovered from the disaster. The feasibility of this product seems very high and if manufactured, this would be one of the best solutions for providing shelters during emergency situations. The hard work undertaken by the designer is worthy, and precise to the theme of the contest. Let us hope that such concepts would begin their productions very soon.
Source: James Dyson Foundation