2021-03-04
Text: Jens Persson
Few cultural events have inspired a revolution in our homes more
than the introduction of the television in the 1950s. The social
dynamic and the interior setup of the living room had forever
changed. Now, we might be at the precipice of a similar
transformation. Enter, the digital wall. Imagine our living room
walls covered by digital e-paper, rather than wallpaper. It's a
home makeover that would undoubtedly affect our daily lives in a
big way.
But what would the actual implications be? In his licentiate
thesis 'Arrangement Design Studies - the introduction of the
digital wall in domestic environment', Morteza Abdipour tries to
find out.
The main bulk of his research efforts was spent observing
participants interacting with a fully equipped digital wall, set up
in a unique exploratory space called the 'Design Research Lab' at
Mid Sweden University. Here, he was able to prototype all aspects
of the digital wall and carry out design experiments using multiple
methods to collect data while people were experiencing the new
technology.
Participants
interacting with the digital wall set up in the 'Design Research
Lab'.
"The Lab was really useful as a platform to understand user
experiences and the barriers for interactions created in this
simulated space of a domestic environment. The experiments resulted
in some interesting findings regarding the visible and invisible
impact the digital wall might have in our future homes", says
Morteza Abdipour.
The visible and invisible impact of the digital
wall
The immediate visible impact, witnessed during initial
observations, saw participants reduce the number of domestic
products in the room: such as furniture, bookshelves and the
television. People also expressed a need for new types of furniture
that were better adapted to the digital wall and the body positions
that resulted from interacting with it. Other participants voiced
the need for curved walls to further the interactive
experience.
The invisible impact of the digital wall was mainly discovered
during the final stages of the research when Morteza revisited the
video recordings of the sessions. Here, he realized that the
digital wall creates an unseen gravitational pull towards the
center of the room. He could see that the digital content seemed to
carry an invisible weight and volume of its own that occupied the
room and greatly impacted the people in it. It affected how they
moved around and also shaped their interactions with each
other.
Participants of the study experienceing
different elements of the digital wall in the 'Design Research Lab'
set up at MIUN.
"The power of the technological content appears to push things a
certain distance from the wall, toward the center of the room. It
almost creates an invisible matter or substance between
participants and the digital wall. While the television has a
similar effect, a room with three out of four walls being digital
radically multiplies that impact", says Morteza Abdipour.
Adapting to the digitalization of our everyday lives
The digital wall is likely to be one of the big next steps in
the continued digitalization of our everyday lives. Today's digital
devices - smartphones, digital wearables and virtual home
assistants - are already getting increasingly intertwined with all
facets of life, and as such they have begun influencing human
behaviour on a deeper level.
According to Morteza Abdipour, a heavy responsibility falls on
the shoulders of designers and design researchers to explore
different scenarios in order to understand the far-reaching
consequences of something like the digital wall, a potentially
transformational product in our future homes.
"My objective here is to create awareness for future designers,
producers and people. By bringing the digital wall into our living
rooms, it will gradually start to form us and our day-to-day
behaviour, like the smartphone has. With such powerful technology
in our homes, we are going to start changing so many things, not
just objects but behaviour and even, by extension, perhaps values.
The goal of my research is to make these potential invisible
changes visible so that we can adjust and adapt in the best way",
says Morteza Abdipour.
About the dissertation:
Morteza Abdipour holds a Master of Art & Science in
Industrial Design from Mid Sweden University with a focus on
'Design for All'. After his studies he worked as a research
assistant to develop the concept of the 'Design Research Lab' at
the Mid Sweden University. The aim of the Lab was to set up various
design scenarios to assist researcher and designers identify the
impact of design solutions on users' behavior in design evaluation
process. His PhLic study, 'Arrangement Design Studies', is the
first PhD study collaboration between Department of Industrial
Design at Mid Sweden University and Umeå Institute of Design at
Umeå University.
Read
the dissertation
Press images
On Wednesday 10 March, Morteza Abdipour, Umeå Institute of Design
& Mid Sweden University, will defend his dissertation entitled:
Arrangement Design Studies.
The Licenciate Thesis defense takes place at 14:00 in the
Project Studio, Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå University
Supervisor: Erik Stolterman
