Application of tactile experience in environmental design

SUN xuxu

Abstract： With the development of environmental design， people’s pursuit of environmental space quality has developed from a single visual enjoyment to a multifaceted perception of environmental space. As the most important way for human body to perceive the world， touch provides a rich way for people to understand the surrounding environment. This paper mainly focuses on the design and research of human tactile sensory experience to meet the needs of people’s deeper perception of environmental space.

Through literature review and analysis of books， tactile experience in environmental design is studied. Fully explore the connotation and application of tactile experience. Summarized the tactile experience design techniques and research attention. The last part of this paper analyzes the application of tactile experience in environmental design to space design through examples.

Key words： Tactile experience;Environmental design;Sensory park;

Problems faced in today’s environmental design

Simple pursuit of visual level of one-sidedness. The world today is undergoing vigorous development. Creative activities in the field of environmental design are very active. Visual elements in environmental design are still the criteria for evaluating design work. The vast majority of environmental design concepts and practices are still single pursuit of visual aesthetic enjoyment and psychological needs. If we only consider the concept and practice of visual feeling in environmental design， we do not take into account the rest of the human senses.這he design of the environment is not reasonable， designers should pay attention to the design of the human body’s multidirectional perception.

The urgency of human contact with nature. After entering the information age， people’s physical and mental contact with the mechanical environment increased greatly. People are enjoying the benefits of technology while neglecting their physical and mental needs. Wake up in your home and go to your office building. Time is always lost in mechanical space， and the communication between man and nature is imminent.

Analysis of the connotation of tactile experience

In interactive activities， people can gain knowledge of the contents of things and get different psychological feelings. The process of such feelings is experience. This experience can be retained in people’s memory as knowledge for a long time. Tactile experience is a cognitive way that people interact with the environment. It is based on tactile perception of body parts， and also takes the environment and space as the object of feeling， through passive or active contact with the surrounding environment， the body sends signals to the brain to complete the process of tactile experience.

Frederick Sacks wrote in Science， “ Touch is the first to kindle， and the last to catch fire： the eye， long after it has betrayed us， leaves a man with a faithful wave of touch， which is what we call ‘lost touch’. “ The sense of touch has psychological properties as well as physical properties. Through touch， sensations like cold， heat， pain and pressure are stimuli that the body can pick up. But after these stimulating signals are transmitted to the brain， the brain causes a series of psychological dynamics through association and sublimation. It’s stronger than words and emotions and it’s more passionate.

People’s cognition of the environment begins with the sense of organs. Vision， hearing， smell， taste and touch are individual attribute responses of human brain to objective things acting on sensory system. Touch enables us not only to understand the various attributes of things， but also the direct channel of human brain and the external world， as well as the important basis of consciousness and psychological activities. In vision， there must be a variety of shapes and the movement of forces scattered outward by various shape elements; In hearing， the heart feels the sound factor in the space environment; In the sense of smell， smell contains important information. Different smells express different emotions and connotations. In taste， the combination of spatial experience behavior and eating activity to achieve taste stimulation. When the body perceives objective things through sensory organs， people can coordinate with each sensory organ， and the reaction system of the brain can form an overall picture of the thing according to the relationship between the senses， thus forming the cognition of the environment.

Different site forms will make different people have corresponding tactile behavior. Appropriate design in the environmental space can make people corresponding to the tactile behavior， guide the adjustment of human posture， make the human body and the site multi-directional contact， to meet the satisfaction of the environment. This shows that human tactile behavior in environmental space has a strong plasticity. Therefore， the need for environmental design can continue to strengthen guidance through effective planning.

Tactile experience analysis and application

1 Active tactile experience in tactile perception

Active tactile experience refers to people’s purposeful contact with the environment and space through the body according to their own needs， which is also called autonomous experience. Touch is an ancient， urgent sense. When we use our body organs to hold， grip， or step on objects， each contact sends a series of signals to the brain. For instance， bumpy roads， soft beaches， cold drinks or scalding water. We activate our tactile sensory systems， our organs through different parts of the body and transmit these sensations to the brain. The tactile behavior of body and environment space mainly includes sitting， lying down and other different postures. With the change of body posture， the contact area with the environmental space will also change accordingly， resulting in different perceptual experience.

In the design of waterfront environment， designers will actively pay attention to the different feelings of feet touching the ground. Through the soft and hard contrast between water and stone. Water steps， through the fountain， touch fountain three forms of hydrophilic， to increase the change of touch. The foot is the closest tactile organ between the body and the environment. When people move in space， the feeling of foot transmission will be very delicate. The tactile behavior of feet in the environmental space mainly includes treading， sliding and touching the ground with toes. Trampling is the normal way for people to walk， while sliding and tiptoe touching are people’s tests for the smoothness of the ground. People will use their feet to actively trample and slide at the junction of pavement materials to feel the changes of different materials.

People often feel objects with different textures through their fingertips. The most developed part of the body’s active sense of touch is the hand， and the touch of fingers also strengthens the sense of reality brought by the environment. Fingers are sensitive to landscapes that are designed to be touched. For the most part， you can’t help but experience touch.

2 Passive tactile experience in tactile perception

Passive tactile experience refers to people’s contact with the space they are in due to external uncontrollable factors， which is also called receptive experience. External environmental conditions， including light， temperature， wind speed and humidity， will affect the sense of warmth and coolness in body organs’ sense of touch， thus affecting people’s comfort in the environmental space.

3 Material

The division and connection of different functional areas of environmental space are often realized through different tactile sensations of materials， thus limiting the behavior of people in this area. For example， In the design respect that ground shop installs， can pass soft and hard qualitative ground shop installs material collocation and the contrast of different surface texture， enhance the touch feeling that the ground brings to sufficient ministry. At the same time， the application of soft materials in the rest area can stay， so as to enhance the comfort of the human body in the rest area. In the environmental design， materials should be selected to match with the functional partition of the space， hardness， hue， concave and convex degree of suitable materials， so that the body can feel more comfortable， so that participants and environmental space more match.

4 Touch and vulnerable groups

With the continuous development of economy and society， people not only pay attention to the visual factors and aesthetic functions of environmental design itself， but also pay more attention to the communication between the body of special groups and the environment space. In the tactile landscape design， there are also sensory parks， parks for the blind， oxygen therapy parks and other parks designed for special people. Barrier-free design in environmental space is handled according to tactile sensation. The contrast of materials in the space changes the human contact behavior or predicts the change of the environmental space， and the human flow line in the environmental space produces the effect of natural transition. For example， the position of the floor tiles at the origin of the blind path in the environmental space can remind the blind of the position of the steps and the direction of action.

Tactile experience application case analysis of Changsha Sensory Park

Changsha Gong fang Park is located in Changsha， Hunan Province， China. The whole park is designed from the perspectives of sight， hearing， smell， taste and touch. In order to enable people to mobilize the sensory experience of the whole body， through the basic visual experience， combined with auditory， tactile multi-sensory exploration of natural phenomena and laws. Changsha Sensory Park has a rich experience of exploration and interactive devices， enhance the park’s educational attributes. The sensory park is divided into outdoor and indoor experience areas. The outdoor experience area is mainly connected with nature， with plant mazes， sound corridors， magical big chairs and other experience facilities. The interior experience is divided into six rooms and thirty-eight experiential devices， each of which generates a different phenomenon that stimulates people’s interest.

Tactile experience includes plant maze， dragon washing copper basin and other experience projects. Design allows us to actively participate in tactile experience and emphasize the various real feelings of tactile experience to achieve fun. The design of the plant maze attracts us to coordinate ourselves to keep balance， and we need the continuous coordination of vision and hearing to move towards the inner space enclosed by the plants， prompting us to actively have tactile experience with the plants. Accompanied by the sound of birds and flowers， fresh air. Dragon wash copper basin is to let us constantly touch the copper basin for friction， experience the resonance between fingertips and copper basin.

Famous German musicians use alpine stone， crystal， shell and other natural materials made of Musical Instruments， placed in Changsha Sensory Park music house. Participants can try to experience， using different materials to knock out different melodies， to stimulate the potential musical power and creative potential of each of us. The combination of auditory and tactile experiences allows people to use their emotions and intelligence to produce different melodies and movements.

Every experience project in Changsha Sensory Park is designed around people’s senses. Our sense organs need not only the use of sight， but the use of all sense organs. According to people’s brain mode of thinking， combining landscape with game interaction or people’s desire for knowledge to explore the truth makes people actively participate in the experience of all projects and constantly explore small laws in the environment. Not only enrich the inner sense of experience， but also constantly find surprises in the experience， greatly improve the value of the park and people’s happiness index， for the future sensory park design has great reference significance.

Conclusion

Tactile experience is the basic way for people to experience the environment and space. People interact with their environment through tactile senses. The tactile experience of environmental space can be divided into two types： active tactile experience and passive tactile experience. Active tactile experience can stimulate people’s interest， while passive tactile experience can affect people’s interest in invisible space. In the design of environmental space， on the one hand， designers should fully consider people’s tactile experience， on the other hand， they should also seek tactile experience from design inspiration. Tactile design in environmental space design can not only divide the functional areas of environmental space， At the same time， rich environmental design details affect the change of human behavior， reflect the humanistic care of the design， and meet the needs of people to experience the environmental space in an all-round way. Therefore， the design of environmental space should respect the tactile experience of body senses and choose materials suitable for space functions. In terms of site shape design， it conforms to the ergonomics and human behavior changes of all kinds of people， so as to stimulate people’s interest in interacting with the environmental space and enhance the participation of the environmental space.

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