Current ways of looking after Raynaud’s are not good enough, there is a need for another way of monitoring and keeping control rather than trying a series of drugs when it may take a long time to find the one that works for the individual in question. “Each drug should be taken for at least 2 weeks and then stop for 3 days before changing from one drug to another” http://www.raynauds.org.uk/raynauds/treatments
Suffers are recommended various items such as hand warmers, microwavable soft toys and cushions and silver gloves.
During my research I did come up with some ideas that could be used instead of arduino such as thermochromic dyes and warm able slippers and scarf.
However my concept is to have something that not only keeps the wearer informed of their temperature but can also dos something about it whilst staying soft and with various designs.
The ideal final item would be mainly silver glove, sensor at the end of the middle finger, a hand warmer in a tube like form that dose not go solid when activated and can also be reactivated after its been used. As many hand warmers require a process such as boiling to enable the heating to be reactivated, this may not bee good enough for people who need to keep their hands warm whilst out on a cold day. The fabric is beneficial as its good for the circulation as well as the skin. There could also be a ring part that could alert you to a drop in temperature so that you put the gloves on if they were not put on in the first place. This concept would not just be good for Raynaud’s suffers but for anyone who wants to keep warm hands in a cold place. Many I have discussed this idea with have shown interest in the item for themselves.
The prototype I have put together shows that the drop of temperature can be monitored and communicated subtly. I see the place as a relay of information, from the skin and ambient temperature, to the monitor, to the wearers consciousness when they decide how to interoperate the information and any change is relayed back to the sensor which continuously updates the wearer as to when they chose to look at or happen to notice the colour of the lit LED.