marie rouillon: daily haptics

‘daily haptics’ by marie rouillon all images courtesy of marie rouillon

french material designer marie rouillon has created ‘daily haptics’ as the final project for her master’s degree at central saint martins college of arts and design. comprised of cups that look the same but feel different, this series responds to contemporary society’s digitization and aims to re-engage people with tactile, material experiences.

rouillon explores this theme with a collection of variations on a simple white cup-shaped receptacle. each permutation encourages the idea that visual information alone is not enough, one needs to touch it to get full information: for instance, one is very light, another is very heavy, one vibrates, one is completely soft and hard to grab, etc. the user is invited to rethink his tactile habits on a daily basis, and find new ways to comprehend everyday objects.

the simple white cup-like form used as the basis of this project

variations on the cup

‘daily haptics’ on display

the project was presented in the form of an interactive installation: instead of familiar notices that warn, ‘please do not touch,’ signs encouraged visitors to pick up and participate in exploring the pieces.

‘through this project, i want to make people aware of the plurality of their senses of touch, of their importance in terms of full perception of the world, and to reconnect them with tactility on a daily basis through my designs,’ rouillon explains. ‘I took the decision to communicate my concept through everyday objects, without digital tools, in order to stress even more this urge to touch and experience the everyday world we live in, through multi-sensory experiences.’

surface details

surface detail

a re-interpretation of this project applied to door handles