Four in-situ deployments of ‘ActuEaters’ in different dinner settings and subsequent ‘design crits’ showed insights into how people perceive, interpret and interact with such slow-technology in interesting (and often unexpected) ways. The results of our ‘ActuEating’ studies provide evidence for how an actuating artefact can be simultaneously a resource for social engagement and an interactive decorative. In response, we explore design opportunities for situating novel interactive materials in everyday settings, taking the leap into a new generation of interactive spaces, and critically considering new aesthetic possibilities.
The beauty of interactive decorative objects (unlike novel gadgets) is that whether they interact (accurately or entirely) or not, the object still has value. Its failure to interact at any time will not lead to a crisis of affordance, as it remains a decorative aesthetic artefact in its own right. Our work points to the future potential of new materialities, merging interaction design with interior design.
