COMFORT EXPERIENCE: HOW WE INTERACT WITH RESTING SPACES WITHIN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

This is an early paper to introduce the idea of “Comfort Experience” . . this is based on a convergent thinking between Architecture and Industrial Design, where certain observations of human behavior are noted to initiate and conceive new prototype experiences and interactions within public environments. From a practical point of view and considering the ergonomics for this type of public furniture, this research approach also recognizes that there are many human ‘resting’ positions that can damage our physical health and well-being, that could benefit from intelligent adaptive systems in the home and work contexts. We will consider how simple visual and haptic feedback can improve behavioral awareness, particularly for sedentary users

When considering how we perceive our public spaces with architectural forms, products and furniture, there are things that are visually created which reflect light and colour in a certain way. Then there are things that are not so carefully considered or that are even made by accident. But as a collective experience, there are deliberate moments that are introduced to our physical world that impress and influence us in many ways. They engage our emotional reaction and responses, to attract or to seduce, to entertain or to communicate, to shock or to reassure, and so on with limitless opportunities to enrich our experiences. Our research ideas explore the different aspects of the ‘intended’ visual quality of physical objects as an appropriate and relative value that contributes to the observer’s pre-interactive awareness. (the relational field, Baudrillard). We will consider a series of existing resting situations within modern public places, to compare how effectively the intended visual design becomes an attractive resting experience, and how the visual interpretation communicates and contributes to the urban environment. More functional aims and objectives of this research consider the health problems that are sustained from badly designed seating and poor sitting postures, within the working and domestic environments. Now we propose the development of more intelligent interactive resting systems, that can sense and monitor variable human positions, then with physical feedback and robotic adjustment can achieve a more comfortable and ergonomically improved seating support.

Design Innovations that integrate artificial intelligence, encompass and includes many different technologies, applications, services and industries, but where most specifically adopt faster digital content retrieval and improved operations for the use and consumption of shared products and services, typically within the public environment. Our focus for this research study has scope and vision to include: building design, manufactured products, furniture, internet services, digitally created AI atmospheres, mixed realities and so on, which can all contribute to more sensitive human interaction and comfort experience within our public places.