Brief
Design an experience that centres on human senses. Exploring the potential for design to shape how we use senses to perceive the world.
Group members: Zoe; Jiayao Zhang; Lea; Xin.
Inspiration & Sketch
We went on a field trip to the Temple of Mithras; Gabriel's Pier; Borough Market and Monument. My group started in the morning at the Temple of Mithras. We started our project by recording the feeling we had and then try to analysis them:
(1) Sensory Record (Recording our senses during the trip)
Diagram Making: Zoe Yan
(2) Sounds and Video Records
I also recorded a variety of interesting sounds during the trip and tried to get inspiration from that.
(3) User Journey Map of London Mithream
To observe our sensory experience, I drew a rough user journey map that visualized the my experience of London Mithream. I focussed on the four senses in different parts of the temple, highlighting the senses in relation to where I was situated; the deeper I went the more I could feel. To me this was interesting, I can clearly felt the change of my sensory feeling during this temple trip.
Sketch: Zoe Yan
Picture: Zoe Yan
(4) We also went to the Gabriel's Pier, where was more exciting compared to the temple. We can listen to the sound of the river wave as well as the music played by the street artists. However, the fear of the horrible kinds of stuff which may appear on the beach exactly impacted our feelings towards this specific experience.
Picture: Zoe Yan; Lea
The change moods can be divided into three parts separately when we were in the pier: Scared; Groping; Relax. At first, we all feel excited about the scenery of pier but our tutor Alaistair told us to watch our steps because the rocks and rubbish might hurt us if we weren't careful, so we became extremely nervous. Then we tried to explore the pier by our feet, and we found that nothing happens and then we felt relaxed.
Heat map: Lea
Heat map: Lea
Storyboard
In order to reproduce the scene as well as convey a story to our team and our classmates, I drew the story board.
Design Concept:
Our initial idea was designing an experience which is related to synesthesia, because we thought that our one sense, such as hearing was simultaneously perceived as if by one or more additional senses, such as sight during the journey. For instance, I heard the sound of river waves, and I might associate the sound with sight. Therefore, creating a sensuous contact between objects and people may help them to establish an integrated emotional experience.
After discussion, we began to draw some sketches. One of our ideas is to design a game which is let participants express their feeling through different sense base one the same text; then we will organize this information into a picture to show how does synesthesia work.
After discussion, we began to draw some sketches. One of our ideas is to design a game which is let participants express their feeling through different sense base one the same text; then we will organize this information into a picture to show how does synesthesia work.
In order to get more feedback from people, we did a user testing, but we found that our game could not help people actually have the synesthesia experience and they also felt hard to express their feeling after they read the text. Then we concluded the drawback of our initial idea and tried to focus on a touchable sensory design.
Ideation: Reconstruct Sensory Experience
In order to get more feedback from people, we did a user testing, but we found that our game could not help people actually have the synesthesia experience, and they also felt hard to express their feeling after they read the text. Then we concluded the drawback of our initial idea and tried to focus on a touchable sensory design.
Sketch
We identified the direction we wanted to take the project and defined the method to recreate the feeling of insecure and cautious in our design. With this in mind, we discarded the plan of creating a video for our sensory map and instead, created a physical and interactive installation using cardboard.
Prototyping and Testing
Output & Presentation
We provided three different feeling in our design: On the first level, we used cotton to represent the feeling of relaxation, and then we used leafs and stones to represent the beach and the appearance was transparent, and the audience was not afraid of this step. But on the last level, we designed a closed environment and put unidentified objects (Slime; Water) to create a uncertainty and tense atmosphere for the audience.
Feedback & Reflection
A piece of feedback we received from a classmate was that he felt curious about the inner space rather than worried when he tries to put his hands into it, so he thought this installation could not make sense to him. We considered that, and we found us did not express the mood change fully by using different sensors, such as the gestation.
Nonetheless, this feedback was valuable as it was the first presentation and I learned how to manage my presentation time in the class from other groups’ projects as well as the ideal presentation style for this course which is physical and interactive that can involve the audience into our project to gain a better experience.