core features
Effortless Focus Timer
Set your timer with Solanum or via the mobile app, following the Pomodoro Technique to enhance focus and productivity.
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Solanum is a smart tomato timer designed to help students enhance their study sessions by reducing distractions and improving time management.
Agostino Sanna, Zhuoyue Song
Hardware and software prototyping, Protopie, Arduino
Set your timer with Solanum or via the mobile app, following the Pomodoro Technique to enhance focus and productivity.
To begin studying, place the device on your phone screen. This creates a physical barrier, preventing phone use during the session. If the device is removed, the timer stops, and the distraction counter is updated.
Track your progress and performance in the analytics section, gaining insights into your focus habits to improve efficiency over time.
Students and remote workers often struggle to focus during study sessions or tasks due to frequent distractions, particularly from smartphones and digital devices.
These challenges have increased with the rise of remote working and studying, where boundaries between work, study, and leisure are increasingly blurred.
As we explored ways to minimize distractions, we noticed the biggest obstacle was the temptation to check the phone. This led to a key insight:
Through testing, we found that placing Solanum over the phone created a subtle yet effective barrier, reducing impulsive phone use. At this point we were ready to define the interaction flow.
For this reason the device was designed to evoke the shape of a tomato while incorporating a clean, minimalist aesthetic to align with the tech world and convey a sense of focus. This design balances a familiar concept with modern functionality.
The prototyping phase involved significant iteration and challenges, including fitting all components into a compact form and designing a simple yet effective gear system to enable rotation.
The app interface was designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, with a focus on simplicity and ease of use. The app allows users to set timers, track progress, and view analytics.
