PausePod

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Designers

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Relax and Reset through Music

Key Words

Designers

Justine Bohtlingk

SUMMARY

Music shaped how I connected with my parents, my dad woke us with songs, and my mom taught me that calm is intentional. Yet I’ve always struggled with anxiety, especially before big moments. At Parsons, I saw many students feeling the same stress with nowhere private to reset. That insight sparked my idea: a private escape from the world. Through research on high-stress environments I discovered that pods, offer the most feasible, effective escape. A portable, music-driven wellness pod. As stress levels are reaching almost 85% of the population, I knew something had to be done.

challenge

I identified key stakeholders by observing where stress is most visible and asking people what they needed. At Parsons, students lacked a private space to decompress. In airports, travelers I surveyed all said they’d use a quick escape to reset. Research also showed music’s positive physical and mental effects on patients, revealing hospitals as another opportunity. Across these settings, the gap was clear: high-stress environments offer no fast, private, accessible relief.

Outcome

The project became the PausePod, a small, portable, music-driven wellness pod that offers quick, private stress relief. Its soundproof design, guided playlists, and calming environment directly address the gaps I observed: students needing a place to reset, travelers seeking a moment of calm, and patients benefiting from music’s therapeutic effects. By being compact, intuitive, and easy to install, the PausePod fits seamlessly into high-stress spaces where relief options are limited.