THREE STUDIES OF SYNAESTHESIA
Keywords: Synaesthetic Properties, Materialization, Translation, Narrative, Mental Imagery, Experience
Publication: Lockton, D., Ricketts, D, Chowdhury, S.A and Lee, C.H. (2017). "Exploring Qualitative Displays and Interfaces", ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017), Denver, CO, USA. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3053165 [PDF Download]
Publication: Lockton, D., Ricketts, D, Chowdhury, S.A and Lee, C.H. (2017). "Exploring Qualitative Displays and Interfaces", ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017), Denver, CO, USA. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3053165 [PDF Download]
What are some inspiring properties of synaesthesia that can be used within the context of design? Three Studies of Synaesthesia is a project that tries to uncover and investigate different properties of synaesthesia. “Three props” are designed and planned during the research in order to study and experiment some of the provocative elements of synaesthesia.
PROP 1
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Prop 1 is an attempt to reflect the translative property of synaesthesia. This simple prop or analog interface studies and imitates the property of synaesthesia by considering how weight and scale could be associated with each other. The liquid between the two glass sheets immediately expands its surface according to the pressure it receives on the glass surface. The heavier the weight or pressure, the more the surface expands. |
PROP 2
Prop 2 is an attempt to question the difference between our mental images and the real images of taste. How does electricity taste in your mind? What does it really taste like? This prop allows people to taste electricity. Prop 2 aims to study and investigate the difference between the real and the surreal. |
PROP 3
Prop 3 is an apparatus that allows you to load your angers and blow it up. This experiential electronic prototype is inspired by the narratives of anger-related synaesthesia and its level of intensity. I attempted to materialise stories of anger (or pain) related synaesthesia. By pressing and exerting a force (or anger) to the pad, the prop will make a noise and turn on the red LEDs proportionately to the amount of pressure received. That is, the red lights indicate the amount of anger. If the anger exceeds the maximum level of four lights, the charged anger in a capacitor will explode. Prop 3, a rather strange, somehow useless or ambiguous artifact, is an experimentation of mapping between red, anger, intensity and destructive aspects, as a means to mimic the different stories obtained from anger related synaesthetes. |