Haptic Flesh: Aesthetics of Electronic Touch
Date
2018-02-27
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Abstract
Identifying the need for novel design approaches for developing vibrotactile interfaces this study explores ways to integrate tactile sensing and feedback into interactive three-dimensional organic sculptures. With the tactile responsive materials and electronics, this practice-based inquiry explores the question of how haptic technology can become a platform of generative, creative expression. Specifically, this study focuses on generating and conveying meaning during different stages of art production with the emphasis on the design of haptic experiences with flexible sculpture. It responds to the concerns of interactive art practices, scientific inquiries into haptics, and new media studies. In this inquiry, the exploration of embedding tactile sensing and feedback technology manifests through the development of composite responsive materials and generating sculptural form. Following a bottom-up approach to design, the variations of physical elements, such as materials, vibrotactile feedback, electronic components, human interactions, and the understanding of tactile aesthetics become artistic media -- equally significant as parts of a production system. Furthermore, this system organized the variables referencing the three-dimensional model of thinking based on designing with topological forms. The abstract notions materialize in this system through a metaphoric sensory encoding and actualize in computer-controlled generated tactile response emitted from within sculptural objects. The resulting interactive artifacts demonstrate this approach and share the understanding of the topological way of three-dimensional thinking with participating audiences that engage with these interfaces by touching the soft flesh-like surfaces of organ-like sculptures. As an outcome of these interactions, new understandings arise about the abilities to generate tactile sensory experiences and their meanings. Furthermore, these works begin to pose questions about the new norm of perceiving three-dimensional art and what these experiences mean for the understanding of technological-body augmentations, and for the future of electronically-mediated tactile interaction in embedded, prosthetic, and organic flexible interfaces.
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Haptics, interactive sculpture, interactive art, tactile interaction, art theory, 21st century art, contemporary sculpture, vibrotactile interface
Citation
Kryzhanivska, O. (2018). Haptic Flesh: Aesthetics of Electronic Touch (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/13059