WATG designs Oriel to isolate safely with connectivity

Irvine – June 17, 2020 – WATG has today released Oriel – a concept that empowers people to shield themselves safely, but not at the sacrifice of human interaction. Inspired by oriel bay windows, the design aims to bridge the loneliness divide with a flexible barrier and can easily be installed onto any doorway. Rather than an isolation “pod”, Oriel can transform nearly any space into a separate zone while maintaining a social component through a translucent and acoustically friendly window. 

“Just like many other industries, the complexities and restrictions around COVID-19 pushed us to innovate in new ways.” said Daniel Caven, Global Technology Design Lead at WATG. “Adhering to safe isolation typically means removing an individual entirely from socialization and communication with the outside world. Complete isolation can spark greater detriment to our health and overall well-being, but Oriel strikes a balance between keeping a safe distance while maintaining human connectivity.”

WATG consulted with various medical professionals to determine Oriel’s practicality and safety considerations, including a Hospice nurse, an ER doctor, and a Physician in Charge. Although Oriel evolved during COVID-19, its functionality extends beyond the current pandemic to other communicable diseases or the immunosuppressed, and can be applied across homes, apartment buildings, hospice care facilities and healthcare facilities.

In discussions with medical professionals, WATG learned that many healthcare scenarios include clear glass doors or windows to enhance communication and interaction between patients and doctors. Oriel is a natural extension of this design, allowing privacy and maintaining droplet isolation, but improving interactions with people outside the room.

Model heights range from low, medium, and tall and offer sleeves from low partial, low full, medium partial, and medium full. The sizes are suitable to meet the needs of children, teenagers, adults, and the elderly, and also offers wheelchair accessible scenarios. Plastic material makes the system easy to sterilize and fabricate. The four-step installation process is seamless, reusable and affordable.

Oriel was selected as a finalist for the COVID-19 Design Innovation Grant, hosted by the International Design Awards (IDA) and the European Product Design Awards.

The organizations issued a call for entries as a way to find and support design thinking that would tackle some of the most pressing problems and needs during the Coronavirus pandemic. The response was overwhelming, with hundreds of creative designs submitted from all over the world.