Modular living system optimises COVID-19 quarantining

The design provides an affordable solution with multiple transparent, functional modules for a better and safer quarantine experience at home

Spotted:  COID, which is short for Cohabit Independent Diving-Bell and a play of words on the names of COVID-19, aims to address the high susceptibility of infection rates within the dense, small living residential compounds of Asian cosmopolitans, and to provide an affordable solution for a better quarantine experience. The concept was inspired by the Diving-Bell Spider that creates air bubbles around itself to breath whilst living underwater.

Not only does the design allow the user to have visual communication, but also move in non-isolated areas without contagion risk. The concept defies the impression that the “isolated person must be in an isolated space”.

Without being exposed to the public, the patient of COID is provided with complete living functions in the form of modules. The modular system is divided into four parts, with HEPA filtered ventilation systems attached to each.

Cube A allows the user to have adequate space for resting, whilst also having enough flexibility to be used in other situations. Cube B can be used as a bathroom, and a tunnel system connects the COID system to other existing spaces. CO-suit, the last part, and possibly the most innovative, is an independent wearable suit equipped with a HEPA filtered micro-fan, which enables the patients to roam whilst preventing social-isolation related anxiety.

The designers, students from the Royal College of Art, have now completed the basic design of the entire system and conducted a preliminary investigation of the existing construction methods and materials in Taiwan. COID has also been selected as a top-10 finalist for the International Design Award of COVID-19 Design Innovation Grant.

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