Experiment 1
For the first experiment I wanted to look at how sound can
change the experience of taking and elevator. I wanted to create two
contrasting moods with sound and see how this affected the experience. For the
first I played the participant a relaxing comfortable song to create the mood
of comfort. I attempted to make the experience of taking an elevator more
relaxing and comfortable and drowning out all the mechanical sounds of being
inside an elevator. For
the second part I played the participant a very annoying repetitive sound to
attempt to create the mood of routine. I tried to create an uncomfortable feeling
reminding the participant of how taking an elevator is a very tedious routine.
Making the participant feeling more stressing and uncomfortable; and more
willing to escape the elevator. From the
video footage of the experiment there was not a huge difference in the way the
participant interacted with the space. However after talking to the participant
the strong change in feeling due to what he heard was revealed. The relaxing
sound made taking an elevator not seem so tedious and felt more comfortable to
just sit there and was in no real rush to leave the elevator. While the
annoying sound made the participant feel uncomfortable and want to leave.
However the second sound may not have done a great job of creating the mood of routine
rather an uncomfortable mood.
Experiment 2
For the second experiment I wanted to focus on the mood of
routine. I wanted to look specifically at the routine of choosing a floor to go
to, and how this can be manipulated; even the user may have a specific floor in
their head that they usually use. For the experiment I gave the participant a
few short questions where the answer was always three, to get the number three
stuck in their head through routine. I then got the participant to take the
elevator and choose a floor to go to. Due to the routine of the questions the
participant also chose the third floor to go to. The participant said he did
not even think about it, after he had answered all the questions choosing the
third floor was just natural.
Experiment 3 & 500 words
In part
one of the project I was looking at the spatial interaction of taking an
elevator and how your senses effect this interaction and experience. I looked
at how what our senses felt changed the way we interacted with the space. I thought
it was important to look at this spatial interaction as it is a common everyday
activity and there are very prominent social issues with this small interaction
of space and such interaction are a way of life. “we are spatial beings, live,
and meet each other in space. Space never is meaningless; it always surrounds
us; it is our habitat” (Hornecker, 2005) Therefore
the sensory experiment I chose to investigate was taking away some of the
primary senses to create a mood of Austerity changing the way you interact
within the space. I wanted to strip back the experience to as little senses as
possible, strongly changing the way the activity is done and how you feel. In the experiment I got the participant to put
thick headphones on to cancel out the sound and put a blind fold on to cancel
out site, leaving the participant to rely primarily on touch to take the
elevator. This altered the way they interacted with space and felt taking an
elevator. I thought that this was an interesting experiment to carry out as in
part one I found that people tended to change the way they interacted within
the space particularly due to what they see. These different actions also
relate to the social aspects of the activity. Where the way they acted when
taking the elevator with other people was different to taking it by themselves.
By being blindfolded they could not see or hear if anyone else was in the
elevator or entered the elevator. This changed the activity completely creating
a completely different mood and feeling. The participant said without the
primary senses he felt more vulnerable not only physically within the space but
also socially, not knowing if someone else got in the elevator as it went up
again made the participant feel somewhat awkward and did not know how to act.
This left the participant with a feeling of austerity where the activity of
taking an elevator was stripped down simply to touch and spatial interaction
relying on instincts.
The
way one acts and interacts within the space while taking an elevator can be
manipulated by certain social aspects that influence the user. Soloman Asch conducted a social experiment on
conformity involving elevators. He found that within the confined space 75% of
the participants conformed to and copied the actions of others within the
space. (Asch, 1951) These experiments
were based on what the participants saw within the space, specifically the
other people and how this changed their behaviour. Terry Caesar
also researched social aspects of elevators in Japan. Looking into how the space
is filled changes behaviour and the social awkwardness of taking an elevator
and the need to escape once inside. “An individual can relax and accord another, a degree of warmth inadmissible once the elevator doors open once more" (Caesar, 2000) .
These
studies influenced my ideas on spatial interaction and made me think about how I
could change these experiences. Through altering the senses and creating the
mood of austerity I did not only change the way the space is used but also
changed the social aspects of taking an elevator that people are so accustomed
to. In some ways making the small socially awkward space a lot less awkward and
comfortable by stripping the activity back to just one sense.
References
Asch, S. (1951). Effects of group pressure upon the
modification and distortion of judgment. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Press.
Caesar, T. (2000). Terry Caesar and Journal of
Mundane Behavior.
Hornecker, E. (2005). Space and Place. University
of Sussex Falmer, Brighton.
Peer assessment sheets
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