In his 1962 short story, “1000 Dreams of Bellavista,” sci-fi
author J.G Ballard describes a future in which
“psychotropic” homes exist and are designed to “feel and
react” to the emotions of their occupants [1]. Today with
the rise of affective computing, and advancements in etextiles, smart materials and sensor technologies, we must
consider the ramifications of technology that could actively
mirror, alter and transform our feelings through the
materials that make up our buildings and environments.
This work provides discussion and insight around the
binding of material and sensor technologies with affect. We
investigate how emotions could be mapped to our
environment through textiles. We present two online surveys designed to enable people to map emotions to
textiles. We then use the results of these surveys to inform
and inspire the design of the Textile Mirror prototype, a
60x92 cm wall panel that is composed of industrial felt
interlaced with Nitinol wire, and is designed to shift its
textural structure upon receiving emotional signals from its
viewer.
7th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction
