From visual stimulation to multisensory experience
Loading...
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
Location:
P1 OPINNÄYTTEET D 2019 Lee
Unless otherwise stated, all rights belong to the author. You may download, display and print this publication for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Authors
Date
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Language
en
Pages
160
Series
Abstract
Sensory design has become a growing trend across a variety of design fields by reason of its potential to generate multisensory experiences for users. Current studies indicate that users will build a stronger connection with products when more senses are involved in the user experience. Owing to the advance of technology, communication in today’s world is mostly conducted through digital media. While this has increased both the amount and speed of information a person can receive, the overemphasis on visual information has resulted in the negligence of other senses. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to propose a new means of surface design that can stimulate one’s tactile, olfactory, auditory and gustatory reactions through seeing. A strand of literature in relation to research on cross-sensory connections and current multisensory designs has been investigated to establish the theoretical framework of this thesis. Based on previous studies, a questionnaire was then designed and distributed to collect data on people’s sensory perception of a forest. The forest was chosen as the design theme to reflect a concern of a growing disconnect between nature and human societies. Moreover, this thesis would like to examine how surface design can reconnect people with nature by creating illusive multisensory experiences. Consequently, a surface design collection has emerged with the help of both the literature review and questionnaire results. This thesis has researched the cross-modal perception and has identified the pattern of cross-sensory translation between vision and other sensory channels. The goal of the surface design is to evoke the mental imagery of multisensory experiences of walking in a forest. With multimedia including animation, printed fabric, woven jacquard and silicone sculpture, the design result is embedded with various visual codes that have capabilities to trigger viewers’ multisensory memories of a forest. Through this visual stimulation, this collection aims to reconnect individuals with their surrounding environment. Visual information may trigger viewers’ sensory memories, mental imagery is then created as the substitution for the absent external stimulation. Based on previous studies on sensory design, this thesis proposes a new practice that integrates the concept of cross-modal correspondence with multimedia. This thesis has found that the practice of identifying and encoding visual signs in regard to other senses is not only necessary but crucial to a design aiming to stimulate viewers’ multisensory memories of a forest. This work has demonstrated that the visually evoked multisensory design could generate one’s desire to reconnect with nature, and thus motivate people to walk into a real forest.Description
Supervisor
Salolainen, MaaritThesis advisor
Haikonen, PetraZetterblom, Margareta