PARSONS SCHOOL OF
DESIGN PRESENTS:

Nina Lahoti

Product Designer
I'm an interdisciplinary designer focused on centering accessibility efforts throughout the design process. Specializing in product design, inclusive design, creative coding, and physical computing, I’m interested in creating simple solutions to everyday problems.
I'm an interdisciplinary designer focused on centering accessibility efforts throughout the design process. Specializing in product design, inclusive design, creative coding, and physical computing, I’m interested in creating simple solutions to everyday problems.
Thesis Faculty
Or Zubalsky, Louisa Campbell, Nancy Valladares, Barbara Morris

Smart Pill Box

To elucidate the potential large-scale impact of addressing small-scale problems within the medical realm, I propose a design solution for an everyday issue: a smart pill case to aid medication management. The pill case comes as a stand-alone model as well as in the form of a phone wallet.

A wooden, stand-alone pill case sits against a white background with a dramatic shadow. A sliding cover is positioned to show half of the pill case compartments, which are covered by covers numbered 1 through 7.
A stand-alone model made of wood
An iPhone with a blue-gray case sits on a white background with dramatic lighting. A sky blue pill box is attached to the case. The pill box looks like a thick phone wallet made of plastic.
A phone wallet model made of PLA

This solution, found through the synthesis of existing technology and research, focuses on simplicity throughout the design process by maximizing ease of use, accessibility, and comfort. The design also minimizes overall cost and centers on convenience in an intuitive user experience.

Two green PCBs lay against a white background. Two small, square-ish microcontrollers, 2 16-leg multiplexers, and 8 small buttons are scattered across the background.
Custom PCBs, microcontrollers, multiplexers, and buttons

To minimize size, I used Eagle to create a custom PCB for the pill box’s circuit. For a microcontroller, I used the Seeed Studio XIAO nRF52840, which I connected to 14 buttons using a 16-channel multiplexer.

The body of the pill boxes were modeled in Blender and 3D printed using PLA and wood-filled PLA.

Through an app linked to the smart-pill case using BLE, users can set up reminders to take medication as well as to refill the pill case. The case uses a series of sensitive buttons to determine whether or not each compartment of the box is full, allowing the app to track when users take their medication as well as when they miss doses. This log is accessible in the app.