Master Thesis at Delft University mentored by Diffus
Diffus had the pleasure to co-mentor Niels Stamhuis from the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University on his Master Thesis.
The Thesis (Master of Science Integrated Product Design) was defended publicly the 20th of August at the University of Delft.
Niels used “spacEmotion” (A space-divider system designed by Diffus) as a case for suggesting further development to it’s existing functionalities.
The flexibility of our modular system is demonstrated as it allows to welcome a wide range of new adds-on and refinements.
Title: “Designing with Smart Materials: A case presenting a tactile interface for intuitive control of light and sound in domestic environments”.
By Niels Stamhuis.
Mentors:
From Diffus Design: Hanne Louise Johannsen and Michel Guglielmi.
From Delft University: Elvin Karana and Kaspar Jansen.
You are welcome to Download the thesis and watch a video demonstration made by Niels at the graduation.
Abstract:
A growing interest in Smart materials has been reported throughout literature over the last decades. Also regarding current day developments with products classed as ‘smart products and applications’, have led to the start of this thesis. Initially the assignment was aimed to explore the qualities and advantages of smart materials. Through analysis of the current developments in the world of smart materials, this thesis points out that smart material systems, or computational materials, provide the best opportunities to design an example application with. This is mainly due to their flexibility in embodiment material and electronics integration.
The final design presents a wireless remote control disc made out of leather and textile, that controls the light and sound output of Spacemotion. Diffus design studio created Spacemotion as an interactive modular system of textile discs, embroidered with conductive yarn. The design focuses on intuitive user interactions and uses smart sensing functions to detect the different performances of the user. Through tactile material exploration, it lets the user take control over the light and sound output of Spacemotion.
The method of Material Driven Design was used as approach of the design exploration and provided insights in smart material qualities. It guided the construction of the performances that are elicited by the materials used in the final design. Unique to this thesis is that the design essentially is a tactile interface platform that leaves open many opportunities for further exploration and future research. In a broader sense, it lets the user redefine man-machine interactions through tactile, intuitive and gradual control of any desired systems output.