Power consumption

I've found the energy monitoring an interesting experiment and it has made me see how different appliances consume. I've been interested in mostly everyday objects, not just technological, but kitchenware etc.

To see that the jug uses so much compared to a light, yet we are unconcerned with energy saving jugs, yet we have so many different energy bulbs today. I think looking at these different factors makes me look at what the problems are and how I could use the next project to look at them.

Energy research

Today we researched the different energy monitors and ways that we can save energy. The parts I found interesting were where the designer had created a product that was enjoyable to use. Such as this flower.

It monitors the energy used in the house and moves accordingly. If the energy use is good then it is open and a purple/blue. As it gets worse it starts to close and then finally when the energy is dire it closes up and bends over as if dying.

Description

The concept of my design is to experience textures through only touch, without the aid of sight. This causes the user to depend on what they feel and allocate it to a colour, displaying links between the two senses that are not usually obvious. Because we usually depend on at least two senses (e.g. sight and touch), having to rely on one changes the encounter and creates a new experience.

            To achieve this experience in the most truthful way I created black boxes that each contains different textures. Each of these textures is not a common texture and so is quite unrecognizable. This way the user cannot picture how the texture looks in their mind, causing authenticity because they must go on touch alone. When all of the boxes are placed on an assigned colour there is a texture wheel created. Users can then feel and see how they relate each texture in their mind, without sight obstructing their view. As a colour wheel merges from one colour to the next, so will their texture wheel.

             My experience causes users to examine their perceptions and realize how much they rely on each sense for diverse information.

Final 5 pictures

There are 6 boxes, each containing a separate texture, and a colour wheel with spokes to fit each box into.
























Place your hand through the first box's slot and feel the texture inside.

 

Assign that box to the colour you feel it best represents.

Repeat this with each box until you have assigned each box to a colour.

You now have a complete texture wheel.

White and grey

When I tested out my experience at a tutorial I found that people who hadn't heard my concept didn't find it an intuitive object. There was no real indication of where to interact with it as the boxes were all black and the colour wheel was simply there. 

To fix this, I have decided to line each colour of the colour wheel with a white outline that draws the eye to the centre, just like the picture below. This immediately makes the user think that the centre is where they must interact.

Also I have changed the flaps' colour to grey so that the eye is drawn there. Before, it was difficult to see where to put your hand in, but now it has a clear opening.

Flaps

Instead of just holes into the boxes, I have decided to put flaps also so that there is no way to see inside. Before, when they pulled their hand out the fabric flicked out, but now it's obstructed and therefore more effective.

Mock-up

This is a small mock-up of my design to see how it would look if each box, containing a texture, were to slot into a central spiral. Also I wanted to see if they could all sit on top of a colour wheel, so that it could be seen, despite how each piece is placed.

Textures-metal

Today I tried to reshape some metal to create my own textures, however I found that it is too sharp. So I will find something else that can be crafted and molded, but that isn't so sharp as to cut the user. eg the picture below.