Vincent van Rheden (Netherlands) Coached by Bart Hengeveld
Interaction paradigm that utilises expression to become engaged
Inspired by mindfulness and other philosophical stances such as phenomenology, this work presents alternative interaction paradigms for kitchen utensils. This approach counters the tendency to design for efficiency, generalisations and ease of use leading to carelessness. Expressive, embodied and contextual meaningful interactions empower engagement and care for food. The developed interaction paradigm is explored over a set of products and provides guidance and a design approach in extending to other kitchen appliances. The Mindful blender represents products that are used within the cooking while the Mindful faucet was designed to explore mindfulness in more context-depending appliances. The Mindful interaction paradigm creates an engaging relationship between people and their utensils, moreover between their own skills and food, and is sustainable as such.