CRAFTED CONNECTIVITY

MATERIAL-BASED COMMUNICATION

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In a world where social interaction is at the forefront of technological advances, it is unclear why there is little emphasis on communication that occurs outside the realm of screen and pixel. Material-based Communication involves the use of physical materials, enhanced by computation for the production of unlimited varieties of tangible-interfaces for social interaction.

Living along side the synthetic screens of the future, Material-based Communication proposes a future of social media interfaces that offer the tactile interactions physical human-beings are designed for. Material-based Communication offers highly customizable and personalized methods of communication, not ignoring the computational affordances which allow for instant communication over distances.

The Material-based Communication approach assumes there is an already existing wealth of interactive experiences, developed in the physical world throughout history. The explorations in this research attempt to further harness these habitual-tangible experiences rather than produce new ones. Furthermore, designing with an emphasis on materials and somatic interactions means placing speed and efficiency as subordinate to meaning and nuance.

The Material-based future of communication is a direct divergence from visions of the future such as Microsoft’s vision of 2019 and the SixthSense project by Pranav Mistry. In these visions, tangible interactions are funneled into interactions with mono-planar surfaces, the sum of which only add to the already existing inundation of screen-based interactions.

The scope of this thesis explores communication through the use of pre-analog media, specifically: paper, textile, and icon. These materials have been selected because they are basic, and they can be held, felt and manipulated. As these materials are applied to an infrastructure of existing digital-social-media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, they result in a range of interface possibilities which hybridize virtual and tangible user-experience.

The use of smart materials in tangible-interfaces for social interaction provides a new and rich design space for social media by emphasizing the somatic senses and deliberately understating screen-based experiences.

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People are infinitely different, as are the ways in which they communicate with each other. Yet most forms of communication are now being converted into pixels—a strictly visual medium. There is room for exploration of communication devices that use tangible material and physical space but also benefit from virtual and digital instantaneity. Smart materials (materials with electronic or digital capabilities) can be used to produce a rich variety of communication devices with physical properties that allow users to express complex meaning.

The research conducted in material-based communication for this thesis emphasizes three guidelines:

Common Gestures – As opposed to developing new types of tangible and gestural interactions, this research focuses on further exploration of common gestures such as folding, writing, stamping, feeling and touching.

Somatic Sense – Exploring alternatives to screen devices, this research explores how feeling with the body can be used to supplement or even replace visual communication.

Meaning and Nuance – Rather than focusing on efficient and instant communication, this research emphasizes how meaning and nuance is produced from the types of materials used to communicate and the ways people use them.

Exploring the use of paper, pens, textiles, stamps and badges this thesis proposes a future in which Material-based communication is a regular part of social life. By emphasizing the somatic senses and deliberately understating screen-based experiences, Material-based communication provides a new and rich design space for social media.

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Research Statement 12/10/09

My research explores the cross section between digital infrastructures, tangible interfaces and physical experiences, and conventions in social interaction. Drawing on the principle of Productive Interaction, I intend to uncover systems and interfaces for social interaction that provide infinitely unique and customizable modes of communication. These modes of communication are both tangible and digital in nature but primarily interface in the physical world. Through this research I propose a experience in which social activity online and offline share a symbiotic relationship and interfacing with the tools of communication is intuitive to the various ways one communicates socially.

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Research Statement 10/18/09

I’m examining the intersection of the creative practice and of social interaction as it exists in media and in reality. More specifically I am researching the need for social media to more accurately mediate the characteristics of real social relationships and collaborations. I also anticipate the emergence of a new model of social interaction that acknowledges hybridism between real and virtual relationships. Through this research I hope to produce both virtual and tangible tools that allow designers to craft their social relationships and collaborations with the same attentiveness that is given to craft in its traditional sense.

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