Artefact 1: Touch

The first artefact is an experiment investigating the sense of touch through interaction with objects and textures.

The participant was blindfolded to eliminate of the sense of vision, taste and smell. The purpose was to discover whether the participants’ individual experience or cultural background affects the response to an object.

The objects used are based around the factors that formulate the sense of touch:
- Pressure (Flour, Kitchen Foil, Peeled Grapes)
- Pain (Lasagne sheets broken up)
- Temperature (Hot Water, Cold Flannel)
- Individual Experience (Grass, Hair)

The results showed that the object initially intimidated the participants because they could not see it. This triggered uncomfortable reactions and an initial dislike for the object followed by a warmed reaction to the object, and then memories were triggered. The cultural differences were apparent with the German participant, as he was calm, logical and methodical although did not reveal as many childhood memories but more intimate, personal memories.

Most of the memories triggered were from childhood as young as 5 and were connected to the grass, foil and the broken lasagne. Many of the participants described similar memories of school playing fields in primary school and packed lunches. The German participant compared these textures to seasons rather than childhood memories; although this may be that he is much older than the other participants.

The experiment was successful in showing the individual reactions to object although it often triggered similar memories, therefore suggesting that there is a common form of interaction with an object.

If I were to do this again I would limit the participants’ sense of hearing more, so that they do not guess through sounds. Although on the other hand this did help participants trigger memories.

The next artefact will investigate the sense of taste.