The 16th International BraunPrize, one of the most coveted prizes for young designers, has been awarded to Donn Koh from Singapore for his project “LeapFrog”, an innovative walking aid for children with impaired mobility.
Mr. Donn Koh, a recent National University of Singapore (NUS) Industrial Design graduate and NUS Design Incubation Centre staff has been awarded a prize fund of 12,000 Euros and a fully-paid six-month internship at Braun’s design department in Germany. The BraunPrize winner was revealed during an Award Ceremony at Braun’s headquarters in Kronberg, Germany.
The award-winning design is unique because unlike other assistive walkers which often-emphasize physical needs of children with impaired mobility (cerebral palsy/spina bifida), LeapFrog also factors in the neglected emotional needs of these children.
LeapFrog encourages and supports the children to rise and stand from a sedentary position, allowing them to practice walking and attain balance, as well as allowing for short sedentary breaks. The transformation between the various modes, (i.e. sitting, standing and walking) is seamless and automatically follows the intention and movement of the child. Automatic sit-braking prevents crashing and sliding when sitting and therefore prevents the child from acquiring erroneous movement patterns. Thus, instead of being forced or locked into positions, the children are partially assisted as they themselves try to switch between sitting, standing and walking. This not only allows for more autonomous and frequent practice but also imparts a greater sense of achievement, independence and self-confidence. Moreover, the product’s support mechanism can be set according to weight and therefore can be adjusted according to the child’s development.
In addition, the appearance of LeapFrog gives a caring, fun and toy-like feeling instead of the frightening medical aesthetics of conventional walkers, which other children shun in fear. Donn added that for LeapFrog, even normal children eagerly ask “Can I play with that too?”
As such “LeapFrog” not only supports the physical development, but also the independence and self-confidence of the child.
Peter Schneider, Director of Corporate Design at Braun and Chairman of the BraunPrize jury, said, “This project is the result of thorough user research and offers a complex yet practical solution to different forms of physical disability.” He continued “The jury was impressed by the product’s adaptability to different disabilities, the way it adjusts to individual users’ unique challenges and its effectiveness as a form of physical therapy that motivates improvement and self-worth”.
Donn attributes a large part of his achievement to the masterful guidance of his personal mentors, Dr. Yen Ching-Chiuan and Dr. Christian Gilles Boucharenc from the NUS Industrial Design faculty. According to Donn, they have skilfully broadened his perspectives and stretched his limits while carefully preserving his individual design sense, thereby equipping him to design products that are sensible and holistic, yet still having a recognizable dose of his own unique flair.
Finally, Donn highlighted that the Singapore Cerebral Palsy Centre, in particular the Physiotherapy Department and two of the children – Keith and Martin – have been instrumental in the development of LeapFrog because of their generous assistance with the research and the testing of the prototypes. For Donn, winning the highly-coveted BraunPrize is a great kick-start for his career in designing. In addition to the internship option from Braun, he now has to choose from employment offers by several prestigious design firms, which is a happy problem indeed. Speical thanks also go to Ngee Ann Polytechnic Design & Rapid Prototyping Centre, for the special late nights and holidays spent working on 2 RP models of LeapFrog (including the one that won the BraunPrize)! The dedication and skill of Mr. Tan and Mr. Kaya Totong were instrumental in meeting the deadline, and the success of the project.
Singapore-born Donn has a first class honours degree in Industrial Design from the National University of Singapore (NUS), as well as having completed a 5-month Transportation Design course at the Tsinghua University Academy of Art & Design in Beijing, China, which he attended on an exchange programme. He has also won several other international and domestic design awards. Currently Donn is an Industrial Design Intern at NUS Design Incubation Centre, learning more practical skills and honing his craft.
Even with such a formidable design pedigree, the journey from competition entrant to BraunPrize winner is an arduous, challenging one. Amongst 903 entries from over 50 countries, Donn’s design project “LeapFrog” successfully passed two rounds of judging since the competition entry deadline on the 31st January 2007. Following this, as a finalist, Donn had to present his project and design ideas at Braun’s headquarters in Kronberg, Germany, in front of an assembly of specifically invited guests with design expertise, including academics, commercial designers and journalists. It was this group of approximately 200 experts who communally cast their votes to select “LeapFrog” as the 16th bi-annual BraunPrize winning project.