Tangible Interaction

Tangible interaction designers refer to a new generation of designers who focus on combining the principles of interaction design, and those of industrial design with the main aim of making things that integrates computation, form and behavior elegantly.

According to the article Tangible Interaction, co-authored by Professor Mark Gross, Professor Mark Baskinger discusses the role played by physical forms in the design of interaction between humans and the objects. In the article, they project that people are likely to see more of programming in things, coupled with a lot more experimentation.

From their comparison drawn from the modern day objects that make use of computation to the ancient ones that used Paleolithic tools, the two professors conclude that human interaction is going back to the tangibility once treasured.

This news is considered exciting, especially in the new age industrial design that has been remaining stagnant in the past few decades. With more emphasize placed on meaningful design, people will also be able to form stronger relationships with the tangible products.

In addition to the above sentiments, the two authors also predict dialogues and experimental changes in the field of industrial design; a fact witnessed in some universities in Netherlands who have started intuitive interactive forms and computation into their education system. According to the authors, the “form”, will express “cues for understanding” and functionality which will not only be presented in product development, but also in computation.