How can embedding the built environment with agent materials enrich day-to-day sensory encounters?
What follows is the result of a 2 year investigation into communal experience, smart materials and functional design. Through an extensive process of experimentation and prototyping, the final design takes the form of a table - hand built and embedded with custom light sensitive pigments. It was tested in the context of an outdoor dinner party (a picnic) and documented through the imprints cast across the surface. By utilizing reactive materials, the participants movements and experiences are recorded by the table as traces - lingering shadows to fade away within seconds.
This project serves as an example of of how experiential design can be reframed to enhance shared encounters, compliment pre-disposed modes of performance and magnify user responsiveness.
