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Meet Toto.
Toto is a tool to help you and a loved one connect across distances by caring for each other through a fun, game-like experience.
My work for Toto includes:
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project management
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product design and iteration
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illustration and animation
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pitch deck storytelling and design
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script writing
The following material is a shortened version of our SCAD StartUp pitch. Click the button below to view our full pitch deck.
Toto is an idea created by me and four other SCAD seniors for StartUp 2023 as our last hurrah before graduation. This one-week project is a culmination of our strongest skills, hardest work, and wildest imaginations; we gave this project our all, and we couldn't be more proud to present it to the world.
Together today, together tomorrow, Toto.
Author and therapist Virginia Satir recommends that humans get 4 hugs a day at a minimum, 8 hugs a day for mental stability, and 12 hugs a day to see emotional growth. How many hugs do you get a day? How many hugs did you get a day 3 years ago, when we were all wearing masks and social distancing, and many of us were too far away from our favorite people to see them, let alone embrace them?
Even now, when we aren’t separated by a global pandemic, there’s still distance between each of us and the people we love most, whether that distance is short, like saying goodbye for only the school day or a work shift, or long, like over state lines. Maybe they’re even on the other side of the world. However far, I think we all have people we’re missing right now.
More than anything, Gabe Mataleo wishes he could hug his mom, but they are thousands of miles apart. Gabe attends college in Savannah, Georgia, at Savannah College of Art and Design, and his mom lives in China. Not only are they separated by distance, but they are also separated by time. It's really hard for them connect due to the different time zones. They often find themselves playing phone tag, leaving voice mails—relegated to texting when they just wish they could hear each other's voices, see each other's faces.
It's for people like Gabe and his mom that we've created a playful device that allows you to embrace the distance. Because guess what? You can hug your favorite person from anywhere in the world.
Three days into the seven day competition, Toto was a rough sketch and a dream, but in the last four days, we created a digital 3D model, printed both a looks-like and works-like prototype, designed packaging, drafted the device's interface, and animated possible interactions.
Meet Toto.
Toto is a tool to help you and a loved one stay connected across distances by caring for each through a fun, game-like experience.
Toto is portable, so it can clip to your keys, lanyard, or backpack, or it can fit in your pocket. Toto is customizable. You and your Toto Buddy can each choose different colors for your device and design your in-game avatars to look like you as well. Toto is easy to use with a simple interface, two buttons, and a navigation wheel. And of course, Toto is fun to play with.
It was really important for us to embrace the concept of fun designed for adults because one-fourth of all kids toy sales are from adults buying those toys for themselves. These adults are attracted to the fun colors, the simple designs, the low-tech functions, but the toys that are marketed toward adults—which are far and few between—are often times sleek, clinical, and outside of video games, not intended for long lasting fun.
Toto breaks this mold with its bold colors, playful shapes, and intention for creating child-like joy while still remaining a form of productive play.
Toto has three main functions.
The first is Sensory Support for sending haptic messages, like hugs, kisses, and high fives.
The second is Physical Needs for reminding your Toto buddy to take care of their body and physical needs, like drinking, eating, or taking medications.
The final main function is Mood Share for letting each other know how you’re feeling throughout the day.
Toto also has a settings menu for customizating both your in-game avatar and your Toto experience.
How does Toto work?
To better illustrate the Toto experience, we will continue following Gabe and his mom on their long-distance journey.
Gabe and his mom received their Totos in a package of two. After unboxing their personalized bevices, they set up their Totos by visiting the Toto website, where they designed their in-game avatars and then input a one-time code to connect their devices. The last step of using Toto is to become separated by distance—short or long. In Gabe and his mom's case, Gabe boards an airplane and flies to Savannah, Georgia for college.
There are many different touch messages you can send with Sensory Support, each of which has their own unique haptic signature. One of the most important touch messages is the hug. In our animated example, Gabe's mom sends him a hug. For both the sender and the receiver, the device buzzes and heats up for the duration of the hug. Other touch messages include a kiss, high-five, head pat, and hand hold.
For Physical Needs, we've animated Gabe's mom reminding Gabe to drink water. On her screen, her avatar hands Gabe's avatar a glass of water, who drinks it and puts the glass away. On Gabe's device, he will receive a reminder to drink water with his mom's avatar holding up a glass. He has five minutes to respond to that reminder and confirm that yes, he drank water, or else his mom's avatar will put the glass away. There are many other important uses for the Physical Needs reminders, such as eating, taking medications, showering, or exercising. These reminders can be customized by each Toto pair to suit their needs to best take care of each other physically, even when they're not in the same room.
Mood share allows you to share how you're feeling with your Toto buddy, even without a text or phone call. Let them know when you're feeling happy, sad, angry, lonely, anxious, excited, or loved, and then your Toto avatar will reflect how you are feeling with a speech bubble, expression, and movement on your loved one's screen. You can see how your loved one is feeling on your screen. This is a great way to let your Toto buddy know a bit about your day as if they were there with you to read your emotions.
Additionally, once per day, your Toto device will ask you to send a voice message to your loved one. It will give you a speaking prompt so that even if you don't have anything to say about your day, you can answer or ask a question to help you deepen your relationship with your Toto buddy. When you receive a voice message, you can listen to it whenever you want throughout the day until the next voice message arrives. This feature emphasizes the importance of growing a relationship even when you're not able to feel physically close.
Turn on your sound and play the video on the right to hear an audio message sent to Gabe by his mom.
Who is Toto for?
Toto is for people like Gabe and his mom.
Toto is for people like Erin and her sister.
Toto is for people like me and my partner, Sam.
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Toto is for people like our peers, friends, and family. We asked them to send us pictures of themselves and the people they wished they could hug anytime, anywhere, even when they aren't together.
Toto is for people like you.
