#shapechanginginterfaces

[shapechange-blog]

Skype meeting with Mie

Today we had a Skype session with Mie, where we talked about the direction of our thesis. We are currently in the process of selecting a specific context in which we will apply the knowledge we gained through experimenting with leather and shape changing interfaces.

We decided to examine the area of elderly people as a broad context for now and look for interesting subjects within the area. As an additional source of information about the area we will look into papers concerning the subject.

Furthermore we will do a brainstorm focused around three topics, namely shape changing interfaces, leather qualities and IDEOs Meaning Economy theme.

[shapechange-blog]

Sketchnotes of Shape-change papers

Simultaneously with the workshop activities (preparation, documentation, practicalities) we have been reading three papers on shape-changing interfaces. Below is a summary of each of the three papers with the relevant aspects in relation to our thesis. At the moment we are considering to find a defined format for making a summary of future papers we read. In addition, we will make an individual page on this blog with an overview of the relevant articles for our thesis. 

Shape-Changing Interfaces by Coelho & Zigelbaum (click on image for larger version)

Shape-Changing Interfaces: A review of the Design Space and Open Research Questions by Rasmussen et al. (click on image for larger version)

Exploring the Design Space of Shape-Changing Objects: Imagined Physics by Nørgaard et al. (click on image for larger version)

[shapechange-blog]

Workshop @ Katrinebjerg - Aarhus University

Last Wednesday (2nd of April) we participated in a co-organized workshop together with students from different educations based in the Katrinebjerg area. During the workshop people worked with: 

- What happens when we affect leather with fire, water or electricity?  - What properties does a single piece of leather have when cut into a specific shape? - Shrinking wire in combination with leather. - The cultural connotation related to leather as a material - The qualities of leather? - Leather used in a textural interface

Below is a video showing the work during the workshop, focusing on experimenting with the movement of one entire piece of leather.

[shapechange-blog]

Shape changing interfaces uses physical change of shape as input or output. Furthermore, self-actuated change is a characteristic of such interfaces.

Shape-Changing Interfaces: A Review of the Design Space and Open Research Questions. Rasmussen et al. 

[shapechange-blog]

Brainstorm session with Mie Nørgaard & Miguel Bruns

This morning we had a 2 hour brainstorm session with Mie Nørgaard and Miguel Bruns. The main take-aways from the session was how we could structure our process. The main points are summarized below.

Research & Inspiration

We need to research and find inspiration on how leather behaves and acts, when it is treated in different ways. Also we need to look into techniques used when working with the material e.g. stitching and filing. Our plan is to use videos and books as inspiration, as well as visiting leather experts and shops. This also connects to the experimentation described in the experiments section.  

Design Brief

We need to focus our design brief further in terms of scale, purpose and direction. Miguel suggested that we got more specific about our focus and didn't keep our scope as wide as we had until know. He suggested that we chose a specific scale from the start to work with.

Experiments

In connection to the research and inspiration, we decided that it would be a good idea to start to get our hands dirty, meaning that we need to start experimenting with leather. We need to start understanding leathers properties and the techniques involved with working with the material and this understanding and experimentation will make ideas emerge of use-cases for leather in shape change.

We came out of the brainstorm session with a much clearer sense of direction and which steps to take next.

[shapechange-blog]

Initial Litterature Review

Today we made a review on relevant literature within the field of shape changing interfaces. Papers was mainly already known sources and found through references in these papers.

All relevant literature was categorised into specific categories in Dropbox e.g. 'Frameworks & Taxonomies' & 'Applications', for later review.

[shapechange-blog]

Thoughts on collaboration

Our initial thoughts is to work with shape changing interfaces. Today we talked with one of our supervisors, Mie Nørgaard. She mentioned two of her connections that could be interesting to work with, in relation to shape changing interfaces. One of the connections is from a research department within a big IT Company in the US. They could be interested in a concrete application using their technology in a final product. The other connection has a personal design firm that makes leather bags. She is specialised in the craftsmanship of working with leather and have a lot of experience with the material. 

After discussing the possibilities we came to the conclusion that it could be interesting to combine shape changing interfaces together with leather as a material. In addition, to our knowledge, not much has been done in terms of using fabrics or leather together with shape changing interfaces.