Designing Assistive Devices for Sacred Palanquin Carriers: A Glocalization Community Design

• Main Authors: Ming-Chyuan Ho, Ying-Hsun Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-04-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: community design; event; globalization; glocalization; local culture; religion
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/8/3253

New knowledge and technology brought about by globalization can be applied to revitalize local cultures in innovative ways. It can start with glocalization community design to sustain unique traditional events so as to energize the community. The paper proposes a study on designing assistive devices for exclusive palanquin carriers for a local religious event. Field investigation, questionnaire survey, and in-depth interviews were adopted to design appropriate assistive devices for palanquin carriers. This design used shoulder protectors to reduce the pain of the palanquin carriers. It is recommended that the palanquin carriers wear a shoulder protective vest with a protector applied to each shoulder to share the weight of the palanquin to maintain a good physical condition so as to facilitate the completion of the event. The task is to develop a protective vest that the palanquin carriers love to wear and will become the focus of attention in the detouring. The designed protective vest could attract more young people to participate in the event, that is how the aging problem could be solved. It is the first but important step to resolve the aging crisis of the event.