How the Lumon Industries WoeMeter Was Designed and Fabricated for the ‘Severance’ Episode ‘Chikhai Bardo’
Prop production company Make3 fabricated the Lumon Industries WoeMeter that was briefly seen in “Chikhai Bardo”, episode 207 of the phenomenal Apple TV+ series Severance.
The show’s propmaster, Catherine Miller, production designer Jeremy Hindle, and artist Eric Fehlberg provided the designs for the device, and then Make3 worked on bringing it to life within the context of the storyline. The WoeMeter measures the amount of woe in a person, which is one of the “Four Tempers” behind the founding of Lumon Industries.
Severance is renowned for its distinctive production design, and we were tasked with bringing the WoeMeter to life—from early sketches to a fully functional, screen-ready prop.
They explained the materials used and the process for making the idea real.
Materials: Aluminum, 3D printed PETG, powder coated paint, ESP-32 microcontroller, custom designed PCB, small and quiet servo motors, a seven segment display and various repurposed knobs and switches form an old Nagra audio tape recorder.
Process: The fabrication began with the CAD design and 3D modeling of the Woe Machine and all of it electronic components. The main housing body was milled out of aluminum and the side caps of solid titanium.
