Serenity Stick

What it does

With the Serenity Stick allows you can massage yourself, reaching anywhere whilst keeping your muscles relaxed. No more reaching in awkward positions to reach your now strained back. Un-attach it from the stick for a portable light-weight massager.

Your inspiration

As someone who deals with back pain everyday I was never satisfied with the performance of massage guns to reach specific areas on my back, many people can probably relate to this. I found that it was awkward to reach up with a massage gun and it would also mean my muscles in my back were engaged irritating them further when I massaged them. Because of this I duct taped a massage gun to a cane to reach my back and found it worked surprisingly well. I could see there was a product idea in this and so I decided to pursue it further.

How it works

Key Areas the Serenity stick can be used to massage are behind the neck, upper and lower back and the hamstrings. It intuitively connects together with a bayonet twist lock. The serenity stick has been purposely designed so that when it's in docked position the centre of gravity is directly above the base, so as not to topple over easily. The design uses a motor, battery and PCB. The internals can be accessed by removing the snap fit bottom, allowing maintenance of the motor and battery. The Serenity Stick features a compound curve running along its side profile that reinforces the part to make it very difficult to break in an effort to increase its lifetime. When it does eventually reach the end of life it can easily be recycled due to simple disassembly and single material parts, no glue or inserts used.

Design process

As mentioned before the first prototype was simply a massage gun duct taped to a cane. This worked great to massage your back but it needed to become an object that would belong inside the home. The cane was quite a large form and so it became a challenge to design the cane as part of the massager. I really liked the idea of the cane balancing on top of the massager when not in use, particularly because it evoked a 'Zen' feeling to fit with the massage relaxation theme. For this to work I knew the massage device needed to have a flat base and so I found a bowl roughly the size and shape I had imagined for it. I was thinking of ways they could attach while playing around with the bowl and a cane and then arrived upon this sculptural-like configuration that I imagined would work because I could see the centre of gravity of the cane was roughly in line with the bowl. I then created foam models. It was challenging to create an ergonomic shape and also designing the centre of gravity as these factors were directly related to each other, but eventually I reached a final shape. The next step was 3D printing prototypes which allowed me to better understand the connection methods of the device to the stick, after much iteration a high quality resin print working prototype was made.

How it is different

Current massage devices are targeted at athletes and are missing the needs of the average working adult that needs to destress after work - a growing population of people. The Serenity Stick is a solution to issues standard massage guns are failing to solve: “I can’t reach my back“ Solution - The stick allows for the user to comfortably reach their back. “They are too heavy“ Solution - The massage device can also be detached to be used in a lightweight mode. “I pack it away because it looks messy'' Solution - The sculptural form allows users to not feel guilty when they don't pack the device away. Current massage guns may do more harm than good when people are reaching up and tensing the muscles that are supposed to be relaxed, irritating the muscle further. Using the serenity stick you are able to massage every area of your body whilst keeping the muscle relaxed resulting in proper long term pain relief and loosening of the muscle.

Future plans

I am currently working with a manufacturer to best optimize the design for manufacture. Using the business mentorship I won from the Unley Council Fish Tank 2024 competition I am creating a business and marketing plan for this product. As a design the Serenity Stick is first of its kind, it's release would promote further growth in the area of personal massaging devices something that has remained stagnant for a long period of time. People will be curious by the unique form it offers and have a feeling of wanting to try it themselves. The product will contribute less stress and back pain to a society filled with stress and back pain.

Awards

Unley Council Fish Tank 2024 Winner