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Alec Robertson Email: alec.robertson@4d-dynamics.net (updated) I am pleased to have had the opportunity to bring together people from different disciplines with imagination. I look forward to your opinions on 4D Design and to viewing your comments within the 4D FORUM. From: Professor Rob Parkin Email: I have several related questions. From: Professor Brian Allison Email: A few general questions are: From: James Woudhuysen Email: A fundamental question is; how much value do we put on 'interactivity'? No one has the answer. With the 'time' dimension we must distinguish between the human dimension and the physics one. Research into the 'time' dimension with design is needed to help us solve problems, but we should also ask' What are the structural roots of the problems? The multidisciplinary team is a much quoted ideal but the selection of disciplines for a design team has to be grounded in reality. ^M From: delegate Email: How can we get this exciting information on 4D design into the undergraduate programmes? From: Professor Rob Parkin Email: Design information is largely experiential. Good designers are produced by one-to-one education. This is expensive. From: Chris Rivlin. Salford University Email: Is interactivity the key concept for 4D design? From: John Chris Jones. Email: Is 4D design the design of activity with associated software? From: Jeremy Myerson. Email: Is 4D design the design of time and movement? Is multimedia 4D design? From: Alec Robertson Email: 'Time', as short-hand for the fourth dimension has ambiguity. This is a strength at the moment. Although there is some hostility to developing 4D design in certain areas, perhaps because it upsets the status quo. What 4D design is concerned with is perhaps in brief - what design has not been concerned with much, and it could be much more. From: Alec Robertson. Email: 'Interactivity' is sometimes referred to as the fourth dimension and some use the term 'interaction design' but usually within limited context of electronic displays. Interactivity like 'multimedia' has overtly technological associations. It is part of an ergonomics and HCI culture, which I think has limitations. 4D design as the design of 'activity' is better, but too general in my view, and it has a physical overtone. The design of 'dynamic form' beyond contemporary 'animation' is the focus of 4D design.'Form' implies a holistic view beyond functionality and interactivity. As such it is part of the ethos of 'design' in relation to 2D and 3D design. It is also open and neutral enough to be a catalyst for interdisciplinary discussion inclusive of but beyond computer-related design. From: Dr Brian Dalay Email: Is anything gained for developing 4D design by looking at the movement of animals? From: Alec Robertson Email: Yes. The sophisticated control ability of animals, birds and fish is something we can use. The development of 'smart' structures and materials is enabling us to design articulated artifacts. Likewise the responsiveness of the botanic world to its environmental conditions is slowly being emulated by human designs. How to design the way artifacts 'behave', in the broadest sense, is a 4D design problem and we can learn much from the natural world. From: Mike Huxley Email: Animals cannot ask the question 'why are they doing what they are doing and change their behaviour as a result? We humans can and therefore we are 4D beings with a dynamic cultural dimension. From: delegate Email: What is the difference between 3D and 4D design, as 3D design includes designing with time as well? From: Alec Robertson Email: It does, but the possibilities for complexity have increased. You would not refer to a 'play at a theatre' as a 3D animation, nor a dance. Think of this on the one hand and the introduction of some new technologies on the other. Then consider the change in the kind of products we see today. We buy services more and more, even when you buy a car you are locked into a complex service economy. Servises need designing with both dynamic functional and a cultural dimension. Are these 3D animations or 'interaction designs' - I think not. From: Alec Robertson Email: 3D design has its roots in materials and objects. 4D design involves more. Take for example the interior and architecture journals. Look at the photographs. You will not see people or illustrations showing the use of spaces. There is a 3D material focus. Is this evidence that people and what they are 'doing' are viewed as less important than the aesthetics of static 3D form - hence their omission? The journals reflect the priorities of their readers. 4D interior design and architecture journals would be much different, and probably on CD ROM to show dynamic form of 'performances' designed. Likewise, 4D industrial design would deal more with the design of the 'behaviour' of say a robotic lawnmower, rather than the functionality of grass cutting and manufacture of the 3D object. Industrial design and architecture are professions. They can be both 3D and 4D at the same time. Just as an industrial designer often does the 2D graphics a part of a job. 4D designers will focus on non-material form. From: Jane Dunn Email: I notice 4D Design depends on engineering skills as well as kinesthetics. If engineering courses covered some of this thinking I am sure they would be a better balance of students with a wider perspective, ie you may well see recruitment of more women into engineering courses. From: Alec Robertson Email: The way forward is for better links between engineering departments and design departments in the first instance, with some collaboration with specialists in the performing arts who are open to interdisciplinary work. It requires people who can think laterally as there are many who will not move beyond the walls of their disciplines. From: Anne Jonson Email: I can see that 4D design can help environmental issues through non-material product design, but the thought of billions of articulated coffee makers used across the planet would negate efforts to save energy. How can we prevent this? From: Alec Robertson Email: Articulated artefacts can be be more efficient than others in the same way that articulation of plants with their biological systems improves their efficency. I agree that there are real dangers here and the debate could be around whether in a market economy people are encouraged to spend their disposable income on one expensive luxury articulated coffee maker, where the added value is the 4D form, or a couple of less expensive 3D products which use more materials. 4D designers can increase the proportion of non-material added value to a product. The environmental issues within 4D design are significant both plus and minus. From: Peter Sutton Email: One of the papers at the 4D Dynamics Conference talked about the experience of going through an airport as the design of a 'ritual'. This is 'real' 4D design with people at the centre. You know the difference between an airline that uses 4D design well and one that does not. Who designs these rituals? I did not learn anything like this at design college, yet it is design and big business. Why dont the design departments deal with this kind of thing? From: Email: The origins of design teaching were based in the understanding of materials together with a mix of functional, aesthetic, cultural inputs for design. The Department of Industrial Design at De Montfort University is increasingly taking on a 4D approach. Industrial design is design for industry - ALL industry. Any manufactured product is tied to 'service' design. So industrial designers will increasingly design both, and design managers should be commission more of this type of design expertise. From: Email: I'm still not entirely convinced that the argument behind 4D dynamics breaks any significant new ground or thinking. Rather, I feel a good designer from 'whatever' specialism consciously or subconsciously incorporates those concepts included under the umbrella of 4D dynamics (?) anyway. What does the panel think?? From: Alec Robertson Email: I agree 4D design is often subconscious. The professional designer/architect/engineer does deal with 4D issues often as a 'sixth sense' but current design methods have limitations..For example the interior designer has an idea of the atmosphere his designs might create. But there is a need to be more conscious and professional about this 'dynamic' of "the space within" as Paul Martin of DMU puts it. The real challenge is however to create designs that are not like we have experienced before. Many of the 3D products we use today were undreamed of a century or so ago. 4D design is only just being thought through and I expect we will be see a similar development of 'undreamed' of products. From: Email: See the article 'Crucial Timing' pg 48/49 in the February 96 issue of Design Journal CREATIVE REVIEW. It gives a view of the originality of the concept of 4D Design. From: Louise Wilkinson Email: I am currently researching to produce a paper in the development of 3D CAD into virtual reality in the automotive industry. I am directing my studies towards using VR in crash simulations. If anybody has any comments or contacts in this industry taking on this type of design development, or considering it, I would be very grateful for any help. From: Alec Robertson Email: The 'Transport & Road Research Laboratory' in Crowthorne, Berkshire will have information on 'real' crash simulations, which you could refer to when creating your 'virtual' crash environment. At present movement of people is largely designed on a functional basis. Can you get x number of cars along this road? Can you get x number of people out of this building in the case of fire. Designing the dynamic experience of travelling can be creative and positive as well as just functional, or in the case of crashes - minimising negative experiences. Design of 'traffic' whether people or vehicles is a 4D issue. From: Graham Worth Email: Has anyone out there got a 4D drawing they can send me? From: Alec Robertson Email: Modelling of 4D designs is one of the challenges for design research, especially at MPhil/PhD level. Designing for computer multimedia - 'virtual' 4D design - is at present not easy because the equivalent modelling techniques to drawing, 3D model making and video storyboarding have not matured. Likewise designing an 'event' - a 'real' 4D design has similar problems. Notation systems from the performing arts might be useful. Are you doing something in this area? From: Alistair McGown, Glasgow University Email: Just dropped by and noticed the virtual auditorium. Louise Wilkinson was asking for industrial contacts and while I cannot help her in this regard I wondered if she had read 'A future interface for computer-aided styling' by Kay DEKKER? It's in *Design Studies* vol 13, no. 1, pp42-53 (Jan 92). Hope this is of some use to you, Louise. From: Christopher Thorpe, Cranfield University Email: k I find the discussion on 4D design fascinating. I think it is vital that we try to understand the implications of technological advancement and '4D design'- whatever its meaning, but surely we should be giving equal attention to the end user and their needs within an environment. If we come to the questions we are trying to answer relating to 4D design from the user perspective we might form a clearer understanding of 4D and it's value. What does anyone else think? From: Alec Robertson, De Montfort University. Email: The 'user perspective' is an aspect of design which requires more attention, and ergonomics and performing arts knowledge, which give 'users' attention is important for 4D design. But I feel the term 'user' requires attention too since it has a very functional overtone. I prefer the idea of 'a participant' where there is a cultural involvement in 'doing', as well as getting the job done efficently implied by ergonomics alone, and words like 'user', which imply 'functional being' or 'customer', which implies 'economic being'. 4D design has an underlying ethos to enhance the quality of our 'relationships' with the 'artificial'. Even if the design of 'use', with ergonomic data was more widespread (too many designers still ignor it) there are still conceptual limitations to such design methods. From: Christopher Thorpe Cranfield university Email: I agree that the term user has certain economic and functional overtones which are different to the notion of participants or interactions. What I was trying to get to was the fact that as designers from whatever discipline we are trying to create products, services, solutions, ideas, messages call them what you will for others - and it is these people who might contribute to the way we are trying to define 4D and perceive its benefits. From: Matthew James Email: Hi I have just read the dicussions posted and found your idea of 4D very interesting. What about the implications for future typography? I am doing research into type within virtual environments involving performance, dynamics, in particular the relationship between type and speech, where do they join. I can't find much other research in this a rea[ especially in UK] Does anyone know of any contacts that will be of interest to me. Thanks, bye From: alec robertson Email: You may find some work on typography and speech within abstracts concerning hearing-impaired children, where type is used to give feedback when children are learning to 'pronounce.' From: Andrew Hugill, Reader in Musical Composition, De Montfort University Email: ahu@dmu.ac.uk A few thoughts: € Duchamp said that: just as a 3D object casts a 2D shadow, so a 4D object casts a 3D shadow. The world as a shadow of a 4D world? Is that a helpful concept for the philosophy of 4D design? € Music is already 4D...insofar as I understand the definitions of 4D given here. € Is *meaning* the fourth dimension? Anyway, the debate is very interesting and, as a composer, there are several things here I want to follow up. Thank you. From: alec Robertson Email: The notion that the 3D world of objects is a shadow of a 4D world is useful. In mathematical terms (see Rudy Ruckers book "The fourth Dimension" he visualises a 4D 'spatial' dimension in this context. But 4D design is mo re a world of action. I use the Japanese Tea Ceremony to illustrate the boundary of a 3D design and a 4D one; the objects being 3D and the actions being on the edge of 3D animation and 4D design. Music and dance are time-based, but a 4D design has a complexity in its dynamic form beyond 'sequence'. Through its 'behaviour', a 4D design can have 'meaning' in its dynamics. It can also have 'physical affect' through the 'use of' 3D objects. From: Christine Page Email: Designing behaviour can be about designing our own lifestyles. When you think of the richness of life in small communities it seems to me that design should draw far more from sociology than it does. The focus on technology is providing sophisticated machines and impoverished lives, even the shopping mall is designed as a machine for shopping. Compare this with a village market. Which is the most dynamic, rich in 'life'? 4D design has much to offer retail design. From: Chris Johnson Email: I find the info on the 4D Dynamics Conference interesting. When is 4D Dynamics 2? Are you going to updat e the Cyberbridge with JAVA etc.? From: Alec Robertson Email: Many people have asked me when 4D Dynamics 2 will take place. It is likely to be in 1998 although a 4D Creative Workshop is placed for 1997. Details will be put on CY BERBRIDGE, which will be updated with Java script and Shockwave etc. shortly. From: Maria Victoria Garces Email: Is 4D Design more than 3D Design because it works with art and science at the same level and at the same time, working with all the variables of a human being making it dynamic ? How can we as students (especially latinoamericans industrial design students) use 4D Design in practice if we are with another concept of design? I think that here in South America 4D design is the key for our countries where culture can be an important and independent design variable. We have the natural material resources but we don't have the strategy to make manufactured products. This is a problem which others countries take advantage of. At this point can 4D design be applied by countries that do not have much technology like COLOMBIA, which does not have the capability to compete with a country like Japan? From: Alec Robertson Email: Welcome to CYBERBRIDGE-4D to our South American surfers. South American culture is very rich and diverse now and in the past. This is a natural resource which could be used beyond tourism. One challange for 'real' 4D design research is to explore how 'culture' can be designed. 4D Designs using culture are currently very crude. They are like the early automobiles compared to the cars today. For example, the DISNEYWORLDS in the USA and PARIS are attempting to design with culture. The 3D stage sets are impressive. But the 4D is for children!! Imagine what future products could be like when we know the potential of the 4D in 4D Design. Theme parks will be the focus of much 'real' 4D design. But what about design for living itself? From: Leslie Hayman, Engine X Strategic Design Group Email: Organized discussion about 4D is a surprise and thrill to discover. We are creating an experimental space in physical and cyber space for use by artists and designers. As our group rushes to catch up on theory, we are working in practical ways. Thoughtful participation is welcome! From: Omri Doron Email: I am developing a new 'intelligent' responsive fabric that manipulates ultrviolet light for affecting fabric colour, if anyone is interested From: alec robertson Email: Responsive fabrics will be an interesting material for creative 4D fashion designers. Imagine fabrics where colour can change according to the characteristics of the environment. Thermo-chromic dyes are availabl e now, but there are developments in flexible display technologies that allow computer output on fabric like screens. Imagine a shirt or tie made of this. You could change the pattern each day by downloading one from the internet! Or link the shirt-display to y our emotions or heart beat. Sci-fi or a possibility? And do we want to even try? From: mr paul ridley functional clothing design Email: k I am interested in joining your discussions. Best regards paul ridley From: Anthony Pringle (Flanagan High School) Emai l: I am a high school student doing a research project on the ideas of four- dimensional clothing. I would appreciate any aid that can be given to me. Thank you. From: alec robertson Email: Welcome to Cyberbridge young surfers at school. The teaching of 'design' in schools is a crucial factor for both economic success and creating a better quality of life. Introducing notions of 4D design to future generat ions will help ensure the 'quality' in quality of life is defined beyond the number of material objects - TV's, cars etc someone possesses but on 'experiences'. From: Katrina Youdale Email: I am a university student studying interior design in Sydney, Australia. I am contemplating writing my final year thesis on the subject of 4D Design. I would be grateful for any assistance in finding any further information dealing specifically with this topic in relation to interior design or architecture. How could I obtain a copy of the article 'Crucial Timing' from the journal Creative Review, Feb 96? From: alec robertson Email: Welcome to our first virtual delegate from Australia. The article "Crucial Timing' is on this web site.(click on the title) The journal issue is now out of print. Apparently there was a huge demand for the issue at the time. The printed proceedings have full papers of the 4D Dynamics Conference. Click for further details on how to get a copy. From: Maria Victoria Garces Universidad Javeriana COLOMBIA Email: We know that South America countries are rich in culture but design research is not supported by state funding. Also industries like to copy foreign designs and there is not the confidence in designers at home. Even where there is some support the technology support is not readily available, so most products are imported. So how can South Americans designers get involved in major design problems that touch our cultural life. The difficult social environment due to narcotic traffic, guerrillas etc. are serious problems. How as a designer can we contribute the creation of a new kind of life? Tourists come here but there can be risks. The mass media does provide good information on our culture. Sometimes it is true what the said sometimes not. Perhaps with a new perception through 4D Design we can create objects that seduce people to good conduct - designing love, harmony, social equilibrium etc. This would be an excellent design. How can we do this through 4D design methods? From: alec robertson Email: Attempts at designing 'Utopias' have had mixed success. On a smaller scale however every office, shop, factory, even University could explore and develop 4D design methods to help create a better 'living' environment. The design methods drawn from such areas as operations research, occupational psychology etc. are all useful, but they are lacking on their own. New design methods are needed to do what you would like. Try developing your own ideas and let us know about them. ^M From: Colin Leonard Email: As has been previously stated, it is delightful to stumble onto this discussion regarding 4-D design. Even though technology seems to lie at the heart of many discussions involving design, I am most intr igued by comments that examine societal aspects. As we go boldly forth, I wonder if there is untapped guidance waiting to be discovered by examining historical examples of designs which exhibit(ed) 4-D characteristics. As a student I was struck by the regularity with which excellent designs, compared to good designs, successfully manipulated this dimension. Architecture that invokes a sense of procession and a well designed hand-tool that gains esteem with use, may be examples to be explored and to provid e us with a reference for our future endeavors. From: Alec Robertson Email: There is a need for a better balance between 'techolust' and 'technofear' within designing, where the functionality provided by engineering is complemented by human values, such as 'esteem in use'. The integration of multimedia and mechatronics into everyday life will not be a simple matter without loosing 'real' 4D designs that have 'evolved' so far. For example, I suggest many 4D designs have been lost with some architecture. Is an example of the limitiation of 60's design methods that community relations within 'back to back' terrace houses of the UK were largely lost when replaced by the infamous 'tower blocks'. They were initially considered better as 3D designs - housing x number of people in x sq. metres but rather impoverished in 4D design. Or was something else at the root of their design problems? From: J.T. Johnson Email: '4D design seems to have significant potential within robotics. What does anyone else think? From: Alec Robertson Email: Robotics devices are usually 'universal designs' where applications are normally within the production processes of manufacturing, or a component system eg. the guts of a camcorder, with a very functional role. The design of robotic applications elsewhere is perhaps one of the first stops for the industrial designer exploring 4D, where what the device does, and how it does it, are important rather than the design and manufacture of robotic device itself. From: Robert Leonetti Email: Perhaps the most interesting idea about the 4th dimensional or time-based object is that it begins to talk about the relationships we form with our things. Those cute little plastic Alessi things discuss those same ideas of object relationship and personification, but in static form. Who would really pay $50 for a plastic bottle opener? Then again, who would open a bottle with a $50 opener? Its more about the feelings (and of course the social implications) of having one of these things. From: "Lorely J. Gaunt" Email: I find this "passive" idea of the fourth dimension more interesting than the "active" idea of robots or more complicated products. It can be as simple as taking the idea of "aging products" and working with the natural aging or putting a twist on it so it becomes something we value rather than a factor of deterioration. Or at least the standard processes of material aging can be a door to enter the ideas of the (passive) fourth dimension in products, because I think there's much more there. Some of the possiblities could even be quite beautiful. ^M Latest comments. (Use the BACK button to quickly return to the start.) From: Maureen Email: I guess the lack of a designed fourth dimension is the reason for most product's having an obsolescence. And of course, manufacturers like it that way. ^M From: Kris Buttermore Email: I'm not sure that 4th dimensional design is a good enough term. Everything exists in time, even if it just sits there. The changing/animating/modifying/etc. aspects are more interesting than the time dimension, but a term that would encompass all of that escapes me. ^M From: Alec Robertson E Mail: While 4D Design relies on dealing with 'time', it extends beyond it into the design of 'dynamic behaviour' of artefacts and people in relation to each other and their environment, It places 'the new' into the current and familiar context we are all used to- that of 2D and 3D design. Some advocate 4D,5D,6D etc but this defeats, through dissipation of attention, the raison d'etre of postulating 4D Design - which is to help assist the design fraternity to extend the ethos of design into new kinds of 'artefact', less focused on the physical and materials. It importantly provides a 'political' weapon too within academia and professional practice to strengthen the position of 'designers', in relation to technocrats and marketeers, who seem to be designing too much of 'the new' without the benefit of what 'design' is about, (and ID FORUM members can offer). A new 'design movement' is something slightly different, but nonetheless would be 'timely' as there is a real need for a new one in design today. 4D might be a sufficient catalyst for this. As for a word for it - How about 'Dynamism'? (13.10.97) ^M From: chris borowiecki Email: I agree with you that the 4th dimension (time) is an integral part of everything. Your emphasis is on exploiting the nature of that dimension to make change more noticeable. Whether the passing of time embodies itself through changing/animating/modifying/etc. or through the literal passing of time to bring about added value or character, I would say that time is an essential function of product design--static or not--and in my opinion is interesting nonetheless. Time itself allows an infinite number of ways to express the change and transmutation of objects and people's relation to objects. Likewise, time can be very useful when it is viewed as a unit and function of design. From: Rob Curedale Email: I had thought about a product which incorporates an electronic color sensor, for which the technology exists and the outer form is covered by 2 large flat colored LCDs. Say if it was a toaster there could be one on each side. It senses the color of its environment and is programmed to change the screens display to a harmonic or complimentary color. From: Chris Hutchings A much more fun idea would be to have it sense the colour of the _toast_ and change colour according to that.. From: Chris Rust Email: You can start with a series of preset programmes for generic thick sliced wholemeal etc, then the switched on consumer can create their own "personality" modules by teaching the machine their preferences .....Over time the machine develops an intimate understanding of each member of the family, learns to recognise the different bread they use,senses their mood via an array of posture detecting devices and finally...manages to have that perfect slice of toast ready for each member of the family just as they walk in the kitchen door. From: Alec Robertson Email: Put a voice synthesis chip in and create a dialogue. If you get up early the toaster might complain.. and if you have an extra slice it might call you a fat b.. But if it is a warm, bright morning it might whistle a happy tune while making the toast for you.....(16.10.97) From: Rob Curedale Email: The chameleon like character is biomorphic in a way. 4D change is a characteristic usually associated with living things. Perhaps things such as screens savers are an expression of a desire to invest animal or animate characteristics in objects which are naturally inanimate..... Maybe this has something to do with the stress of change we all experience. Thermal coloring such as used in T shirts which change color do not necessarily coordinate with their environment and I do not know of any technology which would enable the shape of an object to change automatically in response to the environment except perhaps in a simpler way such as new Mercedes which can change from a convertible to a hardtop at the press of a button. From: Christopher Singleton Email: Rob Curedale asked - Can anyone suggest products where time is used in both a decorative and a functional way? Perhaps exposing the mechanism to view on a swatch? How about the mechanism used on the door of a cassette player to slowly open the door(rather than just thunking open like they do on a really cheap machine). I remember when that feature first started to appear on these devices how much it added to the consumers impression that this was a quality device . . . of course they first appeared on high end equipment which helped to establish the impression. From: tjessen Email: Mr. Steve Diskin, now at the Art Center in California, made a «Helix clock» in the beginning of the 80´. It is a 3- dimentional sculpture which is his vision of time. He got the inspiration from his early work in Japan where they was reckoning exact time and did send people out to tell the time by the sound of hitting sticks. The clock is a plexi tube with a rotating helix inside. The Helix consist of lot of small disks. You can then tell the time (sec./min./time) along the helix axis where there are a scale/dial on the tube. From: Steven Montgomery Email: Movies, performing arts and music all have a 4th dimension, that being time. Is there a way to get products beyond their static 3D state? Or can we say using them does this? In that products usually just sit dumbly, how do you give products a time dimension? Maybe multicolored layers of erodable plastic wear away over use like a jawbreaker. Or maybe the thing is part organic and reforms itself overnight. Or it grows and must be groomed like a chia pet. How about that it just becomes obsolete? Or reflects its user like a mood ring. From: From: Mark Capper Email: One way I have seen products utilize the 4th dimension is to provide some type of motion or movement. Two examples that come to mind are: 1. The Seiko Business Card Scanner (Designed by Barry Sween and John von Buelow). This clever product uses natural physics and gravity to present the business card to you after it has scanned it in a very delightful manner. 2. The Selbert Perkins business card: Selbert Perkins is a graphic design and signage design firm in Santa Monica. Their business cards are very interesting in that they provide a unique motion and graphic effect when you pull on the two ends of the card. This is very unique and interesting. In both cases, I liken the movement that the product performs to that of dance or other performance art. I find myself very fond of these prodcuts because of the element of excitment they provide and the suprise associated with having a normally stationary item provide an elegant and beautiful motion. ^M From: Patrick Heller Email:From: Though machinery and automation have a time basis to their purpose, they operate within a limited set of contexts and the execution of their purpose tends to have a repetetive or cyclical nature. Factory automation is probably the extreme example of this, even though it can be reprogrammed and rescheduled what it does extremely well is the same thing over and over and over. So even though there is a time element to its physical execution, the context is static. I figure 4D design at its essence requires time and the product to cooperatively bring about a change in the context of the product's being and circumstances. It requires a change in the Essence and Principle of the product. The physical manifestation of this includes an adaptation to changing environments. Mother Nature, of course, is a great 4D Designer - the planet Earth is the best of it's product range that I am personally familiar with. Is it possible to draw from Nature what is required to design for unforseeable changes in context ? Do we regard a product that responds dynamically to changes in context, that we as designers have not forseen, as being "intelligent" ? This is why I would like to propose Contextualism, New Contextualism, or even Dynamic Contextualism as possible names for this brand of 4D design. Then again why not just call it 4D-ism - it seems to have been the default name for this so far :-) From: Alec Robertson Email: Thanks for your contribution to the discussion. You make some good points. "Dynamic Contextualism' is a bit of a mouthful. We should try to get a simple term as possible. I always felt the term 'post modernism' was poor because 'post' anything implies the need for a new dedicated term, and we got stuck with it. I agree 4D is the default term so you may have something there. Why do we need just a'word' to represent a new 'design movement'. What about a symbol as well, perhaps the alpha-numeric - 4D with a visual and audio dynamic, with the word 'Dynamism' Let's go for it and create a new vision/dynamic for 21st Century design. From: Sean Loughman E Mail: May I add some of my own interpretations of a product's existence in 4D. You may look at a well worn product and recall its uses and the situations it has been in. In such a case it is a virtual product, since its 4D nature is in your head. Perhaps, with increased interest in the environment ...products should reveal what they were in a previous incarnation. This aesthetic philosophy expresses the cyclicity of time through creation, disposal, recreation etc. From: William Gilles E Mail: You use the term : "dynamic form." I interpret that as the shape of an object that changes in time, e.g. that of a moving animal. Is "animated" not the same? Virtual reality uses much animation ("animated," moving objects), e.g. an electronically produced shark model that propels itself around a rock on the ocean floor. From:Alec Robertson E Mail: I make the point that animation is not quite 4D as I see it, although it is the start. I link 'performing arts' with the notion of 4D industrial design. One does not call a 'dance' or a 'play' or even a 'football game' a 2D or 3D animation, especially when there is some metamorphosis or responsive behaviour involved. It is this connection and application that 4D design exploits with or without info/control technology. An animatronic shark/whale would have to be designed to behave in at least in a 'sharklike' way. The 'sharklike' and specific strategy of designed activity that would be the 4D industrial design. The object would be 3D. 'Dynamic form' is a catch all, but it stresses 'form' which has a broad context, beyond function. 'Dynamic' contrasts with static. In my view a contemporary car is a 3D design, even when going 100 mph, as although 'underlying' dynamic forces eg. in the engine/suspension are being controlled they lack a cultural component, although the engine could be said to be 4D engineering. Driving it somewhere and how this is done is 4D. From:Peter Saw E Mail: I think that this 4D concept is great because it gives a handle on something that many of us are grappling with. However, there is a lot of focus on mechatronics and multimedia.....So where else does 4D point us? I think ritual, ceremony and our relationships with products are really interesting areas. From:Alec Robertson E Mail: I agree, although I'm not sure the design community is ready for this one! The more conceptually radical new products for the new millennium are likely to be focused upon the 'ceremony/ ritual' theme rather than technologies like multimedia and robotics, although they may well be involved. Only about 25% of UK GNP is created by manufacturing of products the rest is created by new designs for example in the services sector of the economy. For a profession that prides itself on 'creativity', the time is right to stretch our imagination with 4D design. |
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