University is for Experimenting

Or so they say. Originally I was stuck with ideas on what to make but I knew the sense I want to create an experience ofr would be touch. I'm a kinetic person, I fidget, so I thought it would be appropriate to make some kind of toy that held an interesting tactile experiece. I looked into some of the things people play with when they're not thinking and did what design kids do best; cranked out some conceptual sketches!

Having looked into the idea of entertaining touch sensations it was time to mess with our expectations a little. I whipped up this concept for a 'gizmo' box. The idea is that it would translate motion of one type into an unexpected type, e.g. linear to rotational and vice versa. This would make both a tactile and visual experience but then I realised I wasn't doing a Bacelor of Engineering and put the sketches down.

This is the idea I'm most likely to run with. Morbidly dubbed "the needlebox", this contraption is designed to allow the user to customise a tactile experience by adjusting the angle of the of the 'needles' within the box to create an artificial 'grain' that has its own tactile experience. The concept still needs a lot of development but it effectively uses touch as its primary sense to affect, with secondary visual elements.

I did indeed choose the third concept to experiment with and played with the sensations that different orientations of the wires made. The wire use was cut rather roughly, making the experience a bit more extreme that what would be expected in the final but the overall sensation could be tested.

The test models were passed around our studio group and people provided feedback. Common responses were the singular angle model "felt the best" because it massaged the skin when the finger was stroked with the grain, yet provided the harshest experience when going in the opposite direction. Another common response was about how people interacted with the models; they most commonly stroked them with a finger or pressed vertically down on them with their palm.
Particularly interesting responses were one that stated that "maybe sharper wire" could be used to emphasis the "smooth against sharp contrast, and one that suggested the wires face one direction but there be "a surprise one that goes the other way." Firstly, I was considering using thicker wire and sanding down the tips a little so that the harsh experience isn't so extreme but the suggestion for the sharp contrast is definitely a potent experience. I don't want to maim the users, however, but I will definitely monitor the degree to which I sand them. Secondly, this idea of having a surprise wire going the opposite way is an intriguing one for messing with what users expect from their interaction with the object. Although the surprise may be ruined by  visually examining the item, the tactile experience will still be relatively unavoidable.
I have yet to look too deeply into the construction of this needlebox but one comment suggested I "put needles on all sides" and instead of having one shifting group have fixed orientations around the box that are sturdy. I feel more sketches are in order...