Contactless Lab Pods
NSF-certified research labs I designed during COVID-19, enabling safe in-person hardware testing when the rest of the industry shut down.
The Problem
The safest way to conduct research right now is to do it remotely.”
Nielsen Norman Group, 2020
That was the industry’s consensus. But you can’t test hardware remotely. You need a human in a room with a physical device. When the pandemic hit, URI had ten research labs that went dark overnight. You can run software studies remotely, but hardware testing needs a human in a room with a physical device. Companies approached us about flying prototypes to New Zealand because they had zero COVID cases. The industry had no real solution.
I decided to build one.
The Design
Contactless Lab Pods are single-occupant clean rooms designed for safe in-person research with zero direct contact between researcher and participant.
Air Sanitation
- HEPA-filtered air cycled 12 times per hour
- Independent ventilation with no shared air with other spaces
- Full air volume refresh between sessions
Surface Sanitation
- CDC-compliant cleaning protocols between every session
- UV-C sterilization between each use: kills 99.99% of viruses
- All equipment and hardware sanitized after each participant
Remote Moderation
- Electronic door locks controlled remotely
- On-screen receptionist greets participants on arrival
- Full session conducted via webcam, microphone, and speakers
- On-site technician available for support, wearing full safety gear
The Session Flow
- Participant arrives and enters the pod
- Remote receptionist greets them on screen
- Researcher connects via video
- Session runs with full A/V (same fidelity as in-person)
- Technician sanitizes the pod for the next participant
Certification
The labs completed NSF’s “Checked by NSF” program, externally verifying our COVID-19 prevention measures and reopening safety protocols.
The Impact
While the rest of the industry waited for the pandemic to end, we grew our hardware testing client base. Companies that couldn’t run studies anywhere else came to us. What started as a survival move became a competitive advantage, and proved the principle that drove most of URI’s innovations: when you face a problem without a solution, build the solution.