Sensory / Emotional Experiment - CCDN 231

Sensory / Emotional Experiments CCDN - 231

In project one I studied the sensory experiences of walking and texting. Through this research I recorded first hand responses of the sensory reactions of relying on peripheral vision to navigate obstacles. Participants in the research all accounted an underlying factor of the experience; relying on your peripherals was harder than expected. My experiment was to record the actions of a participant jay-walking whilst texting on his/her phone with earplugs in. The mood I was attempting to create was one of rebellion.

 In today’s society there are social and behavioural norms that are created through “sensory stimulus of the immediate environment” (Milgram, 1970), behaviours relating to the way in which people commute through inner city streets are often due to social and sensory reactions. In a growing population it is a common psychoanalytical opinion that suggests commuters do not wish to stand out in a crowd or break social conventions. This perhaps explains society’s intoxication with technology and the use of hand-held devices, all of which is simply a distraction to the overwhelming sensory experience of commuting through a busy city.

I experimented with these social conventions in relation to the sensory experience of walking and texting. By breaking these social conventions of order and structure the participant was in turn rebelling against them. The social norms for crossing a street are of course to engage all senses into safely crossing a street, looking both ways, waiting for traffic to pass etc.  But when these sensory experiences are taken away or distracted the emotional and sensory experience is completely changed. In terms of sensory awareness I created the feeling of rebellion by taking away the participants sense of hearing and sight. Relying only on peripherals the participant was rebelling against social conventions and norms. Although dangerous and avoidable the emotional experience of being vulnerable and completely distracted was a rebellious sensory experience. A recent analysis of texting and walking described their participants saying “distracted individuals (were) unable to detect safe opportunities for action” (Hyman, 2009) this explains the sensory feeling of vulnerability; the inability to detect danger is an exact rebellion of our social and natural responses.

Even the act of walking and texting is fast becoming a breach in social convention, in 2011 the reported cases of accidents due to patients walking and texted was over one thousand, which was double 2010’s results (DailyDealMedia, 2012). Even after these incidents pedestrians still insist on distracting their senses and rebelling against social conventions. Whilst a person is walking in the social norm of engaging all their senses to walk in a straight line, a recent study concluded that “

; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">the mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> dual-task of walking while using a cell phone impacts executive function and working memory” (Lamberg, 2011) this means that the sensory and emotional experience of walking and texting is as much a cognitive experience as it is a physical. By experimenting with participants senses, by either taking them away or occluding them, their emotional and sensory calibration is altered. Furthermore, by putting them in a situation that exceeds their social, physical and biological conventions they are in turn rebelling against these conventions and also their senses.­­­

The video below is of the participant crossing the street with his sense impaired. More so his hearing is cut off by music/earplugs, his sight is restricted to peripherals due to texting off his cell phone. It shows how dangerous and deluded our senses can make us when we rebel against social constructs and safety above all else.

For my second experiment I wanted to look at how I could make walking and texting glamorous. I had my participant stand in places that have aesthetic value of glamour, expensive items such as suits and perfume are all part of the construct of "glamour". By simply surrounding yourself with glamorous objects you in turn become glamorous as glamour is about vanity, wealth and materialism. This experiment actually had an effect on the participant, making him more aware of his surroundings. The speed at which he walked and texted decreased hugely. Cautious not to hit anything he simply walked slowly and immersed himself in his surroundings. Perhaps this is a result of the objects around him? The objects influence on society changed the way he viewed his surroundings. He noted that although the act of walking and texting did not become glamorous  emotional and sensory experiences were heightened to the point of glamour. The smell of perfume around him made him feel as though he was as important as the images that relate to the perfumes and suits that surrounded him. 

The senses effected were of course sight, the surroundings could only be seen through peripherals but sense such as smell were effected positively. The smell of perfumes and leather could be smelt while he walked slowly around texting.

Surrounded by suits, very glamorous 

Engaging only smell

Participant smelling the sweet smell of chanel

For my third and final experiment I was looking at comfort. I constructed a pair of glasses that had mirrors attached to them. They were angled back so the person wearing them could see his peripherals in greater detail without having to look up at all. The notion that safety is comfort was utilized in the creation of this experiment. By changing the sight sense component to the activity of walking and texting the participants sight was aided. The participants could still walk and text at the same time but with comfort as he/she could see more than they would have had they not have been wearing the glasses. Not being able to see more than your peripherals is the main reason walking and texting is so dangerous and awkward, but by changing the senses so they can better navigate the person experience of walking and texting becomes more comfortable. This experiment was successful because it succeeded in making the experience more comfortable. Sensory experiences were changed to achieve this result. 

Below are some images of the glasses that were created and an attempt to show how they would work if wearing them. 

This is one of the angles of sight with the glasses on

This is what the glasses look like on their own

Another showing the angle of reflection

Being able to visually see your surroundings clearer when they should be negatively effected by the activity of walking and texting is a successful attempt at creating the mood of comfort. By altering sight the participant said that his emotional experience was more comfortable. Before wearing the glasses he said he felt vulnerable and unsafe as his peripherals were not enough to see oncoming obstacles as he made his way down the street. But once he was wearing the glasses he could see more than what his peripherals would have been able to show him before. The effect of this on his senses was one of comfort.