Relay

Relay is an emotional communication system designed for international students and their parents. It translates the student's daily physiological and activity data into perceivable light languages, enabling companionship to transcend time and space.

The system collects the student's physiological data, including heart rate, activity levels, and heart rate variability (HRV), via a smartwatch. It then translates this data into light languages, such as color, brightness, rotation speed, and flickering rhythm. These lights are displayed on an egg-shaped lamp at the same local time the following day. This allows parents to intuitively perceive their child's emotional state and send gentle responses back through the watch. Rather than monitoring daily life, Relay creates a quiet sense of presence across distances and time zones.

Drawing on the metaphor of "migrating birds returning to the nest", the lamp is shaped like an egg, symbolizing a home that patiently waits for the bird's return. The eggshell is divided into fragments representing different time zones. The detachable upper structure forms a unique visual language while allowing parents to review the child's past emotional states. Crafted from 3D-printed translucent material, the eggshell makes light softer and more delicate, balancing artistic aesthetics with emotional care.

Relay reimagines long-distance parent-child interaction through a low-burden, non-real-time approach. By translating abstract data into concrete emotional expressions, it fosters a more natural and gentle emotional connection between children and their parents.