Zenspin is a concept toy I designed, modeled, and rendered all from a simple sketch inspired by the fidget spinner that rose to popularity during 2016 and 2017. As someone who struggles with motor tics, I wanted to design a toy that provides both sensory and tactile/energomic relief for someone who struggles with tics like me. The Zenspin features a sphere like base with a hard bottom and soft top with a mix of a soft and coarse texture for sensory touch and feelings when dealing with tics. There are shapes like stars and other polygons that aid with the hand motor tics.
Designed to function like a fidget spinner, there are two wings that can be turned to spin as fast as you can featuring ribbed buttons that move along with the stroke of your fingers. All in all, there are many different sensory options included with the Zenspin toy to help alleviate and calm the tics of those dealing with motor/physical hand tics. NOTE: This is a NON-official partnership with the Tourette Association of America, with whom I forwarded this project to in an effort to release this product to market.
3D printed prototype 1.
3D printed prototype 2.
3D printed prototype 3. While my final 3D PRINTED prototype came out well, it didn't come out as well as I expected. This is largely due to the challenging aspect of 3D printing—slicing 3D models and objects to have the proper and right amount of infill densities, rafts, supports, and additional features. The challenge I encountered with the 3rd prototype is since I used different colored and glossy coated PLA filament this time around, the rafts and supports were not as easy to remove from the model itself.
As you can see in the 3D rendering, I have the words "Zen" and "Spin" on both of the wings separately, and they didn't 3D print very well because of the supports being integrated so far and deep into the wings of the model. They are very difficult to remove, and I wasn't pleased with how the words were printed. Nevertheless, I still plan to get access to injection molding machinery as soon as possible to create a better and well improved rubber/plastic prototype of Zenspin, so it can be brought to consumers everywhere! These are just a series of three 3D printed prototypes of Zenspin, and while they may not look exactly like the renderings of the toy itself; I believe it still serves as a good quality resemblance similarity wise as the toy considering I currently don't have access to machinery besides 3D printers. Thank you for reading about my toy!
HOW TO PLAY: ZENSPIN!
Testimonials:
From Lisa D: "The Zenspin is a unique fidget toy. It provides tactile relief and sensory relaxation. With its many different shapes and textures, you can choose that part that you need most at the time. The fact that it spins is an added bonus because you can use it to calm your mind or help with ADHD. I think it's a great alternative to the other fidget toys on the market."
