CCDN331 Project 4 - Draft manifesto and progress update

Using wire to create a group of five statues setting on wooden base. One of each statues stand for one of five senses human has. The difference from real human senses is the statues all show different senses as functions. For example, normally the eyes are for sight, but my statue of eye is for smell. With my designed statues, people may have some new experience which is just match my manifesto: good design should include several senses to bring more experience and serve for simple needs. 

“We learn best about our world when we use our five senses at the same time.” (Five sense)

Vision, I used to think of this one of our five senses the most important during my study in design school. I can hardly remember being pushed to explore anything beyond the vision and sound as Media student. I would be totally shocked if somebody has asked what smell in your faculty reception area.

Consider the scent has ever brought me comfort and happiness, it could be the embrace of my grandmother’s warm jersey, or the laziness of the first morning in summer. People can recall the memory from childhood by subtle distinctive odor they have only smelled once. What if the scent is to be taken into account during design process? Would the design be more impressive through a wakeup simulation?

In comparison to smell, I’m way more familiar with sound as it is almost used to each of my project. Without sound, audience will not feel what I want them to feel, as the sound has been installed is the emotion the designer intended to portray. What if the sound is to be taken into account during design process? Would the design be more alive through an emphasized mood?

Similar to the scent, taste stimulates feelings, memories and experiences. Imagining something you have ever tasted and was so good. One day when you go back to the same place, same dishes, the taste does not echo to embedded feeling of your memory, then you come to notice that the chef is not the one before. Therefore, taste can collaborate with scent to enhance user experience. Would the design be more fruitful to engage with by five senses working together within?

“We might become aware of the presence of a delicious fruit by its characteristic smell. We might use our senses of vision and touch to identify the fruit by its typical size and shape and touch it to select only that one with the distinctive soft texture that signals ‘ripe’. When we take a bite of the fruit, we taste its characteristic flavour and hear a slight smacking sound which confirms that the fruit we perceive with our senses of vision, touch, audition, smell and taste is a ripe, delicious peach.” (Hannah, 2008.)

Through interacting with five senses, we know if a design is mature and good, which we always wanted. So good design should allow the blending and engagement with several senses to serve simple needs.  

Reference

Hannah B. Marc O. Ernst. 2008.  Human Haptic Perception: Basics and Applications: Haptic perception in interaction with other senses.  pp. 235-249.

Unit K. Five sense. 

Retrieved from: www.sedl.org/scimath/pasopartners/pdfs/fivesenses.pdf