EMOTIONAL OBJECTS
There are many objects we interact with on a daily basis which help us meet our basic needs, and that we take for granted. We no longer recognize the object for what it is but for what it does for us. This thesis work explores animating objects as a valid technique to engender a deeper emotional connection between objects and their users.
A teacup that shivers in response to its tea going cold. A chair that warms when you sit in it, revealing its aspirations to be soft and comfortable. A pan whose handle becomes impossible to grasp when it is too hot to touch with bare hands. The animate characteristics of these everyday objects allow them to facilitate meaningful interactions with their users by actively responding to their environment and evolving through their conditions of use.
By incorporating these dynamic behaviors into an object’s design, we can begin to create sustainable and emotionally satisfying relationships with products, and thus break the cycle of acquisition and dissolution that is at the heart of our society’s culture of consumption.
A teacup that shivers in response to its tea going cold. A chair that warms when you sit in it, revealing its aspirations to be soft and comfortable. A pan whose handle becomes impossible to grasp when it is too hot to touch with bare hands. The animate characteristics of these everyday objects allow them to facilitate meaningful interactions with their users by actively responding to their environment and evolving through their conditions of use.
By incorporating these dynamic behaviors into an object’s design, we can begin to create sustainable and emotionally satisfying relationships with products, and thus break the cycle of acquisition and dissolution that is at the heart of our society’s culture of consumption.
