2018 SHORTLISTED
GO MICRO CLIP-ON MICROSCOPE
GO MICRO
Category:
PRODUCT DESIGN
SCIENTIFIC & MEDICAL
Design:
GO MICRO TEAM
About
GO Micro Clip-on Phone Microscope turns your phone into a microscope. It is easy to use, low cost, and lightweight, working with most phones, iPads, and tablets.
Design Challenge
GO Micro Clip-on Phone Microscope is low cost, light, easy to use capable of capturing quality images with minimum distortion and uniform lighting derived out of the phones flash light capable of working a wide range of phones, iPad and tablets. It was designed for a very wide range of applications from education, to health for users from 4 to 90 year olds.
Design Solution
Rather than using a bulky external lighting source, we optically engineered a reflector to diffuse and e-direct the phone-flashlight to create uniform studio quality lighting. The clip was designed to fit a wide range of devices and the reflector was designed to be rotatable so that it can be positioned under the flash light.
Design Impact
South Australian Research and Developing Institute distributed 200 GoMicros to farmers to help identify insects. It is being tested out in Ethiopia to diagnose a deadly disease – Leishmaniasis. A version of it is being evaluated by Mole Check Australia for diagnosing skin cancer. Many schools in Australia are now using it to engage young learners with the mysteries of the world around them. It is being sold in Exploratorium – the popular science museum in LA, in the MIT Museum in Boston and Questacon in Canberra. It is being used in the Galapagos Island and Chile to scientific exploration.
Other Key Features
GO Micro Clip-on Phone Microscope is made with direct digital manufacturing, enabling us to iterate it rapidly. We have now developed a version that will magnify 200 times and also a version for analysing skin moles. Except for the lens and a standard rubber grommet holding the top lens the rest of the parts are 3D printed and laser cut. The entire product is fabricated without investment in moulding. All jigs for manufacturing and assembly were also laser cut or 3d printed. The extensive use of 3D printing and laser cutting makes this product evolvable, enabling us to customize it for a very diverse range of applications.