Emotive Materials : towards a shared language of the meaning of materials

Abstract

Due to advances in design generation and digital fabrication, novice designers are able to access more and more tools to bring their visions to life. As materials begin to evolve and change shape, having a set of rules with which to evaluate, interpret, and design them will become increasingly important. In moving towards tools that allow us to design and create our own materials these the two worlds of creation and curation must be (re)connected: in this work I strive to quantify and understand the emotive aspects of materials, such as haptic responses to, cognitive evaluation of, and emotive perception of materials; in order to understand how materials communicate meaning. My aim is to produce a set of guidelines that enable designers and scientists to communicate and help creators understand the implications of emerging material combinations. For those without the resources to conduct time intensive user studies for every project and without the intuitive knowledge of a professional, it can be very difficult to predict the implications of materials and their impact on the interaction. In this thesis, a repeatable methodology for exploring these impacts was implemented and evaluated. As a result, it will be possible to create a holistic material selection process. By combining materials to maximize properties, I plan to go beyond existing databases and fabricate objects designed to evoke specific reactions. Developing an effective methodology would enable fabrication of more engaging objects. Through this research, I plan to establish guidelines and provide a common language that enables designers to influence materials development and connect designers and researchers in a more effective way than is currently possible. This will promote unique research of materials and expand their range of use. Such a tool will enable new design practices by adding emotive factors that are not rigorously understood to the material selection and fabrication process. At its core, materials science is the study of how the structure and processing of materials impact the properties of compounds. I plan to help designers and scientists go one step further, and use material combinations to connect directly with the end user.