The Material Aesthetics Lab: Creating Interactive Experiences with Matter

Abstract

materials and objects we interact with possess the ability to adapt and transform themselves, akin to being alive. Here, sensing, actuation, computation, and communication become increasingly interwoven into the novel ecologies of materials, artifacts, humans, and nonhumans that we live with, wear, and interact with (Figure 1). The Material Aesthetics Lab (www.materialaesthetics.com), in the Department of Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology, works at the cross section of interaction design, biology, robotics, and materials science. We address human and more-thanhuman challenges by questioning design methods that have disconnected humans from nature [1], and exploring more expressive computational [1,2] and material systems [3]. We aim to redefine interactivity by moving from a focus on efficiency and functionality toward a deeper inclusion of aesthetic and environmentally conscientious approaches. The transformative potential inherent in matter offers an experimental environment for exploring the aesthetics of interaction through soft robotics [3] (Figure 2), shapechanging interfaces [4] (Figure 1), and haptics [2] (Figure 1). With a focus on the research themes of more-than-human temporalities, the materiality of care, inclusive gastronomy, sustainable soft robotics, and haptic experience design, we develop and investigate tools and methods through the design and cocreation of experience prototypes. Our researchers prioritize material-driven design methods [5] The Material Aesthetics Lab: Creating Interactive Experiences with Matter Amy Winters, Bahar Barati, Anke van Oosterhout, and Miguel Bruns, Eindhoven University of Technology