Immersive technologies are redefining user interactions in the evolving digital landscape, promising deeper and almost physical digital experiences (Alpers et al., 2020). Concurrently, the mobility world is undergoing a paradigm shift, with an emphasis on advanced autonomous solutions. Such autonomy enables users to reclaim and repurpose their commuting time, fundamentally altering how people interact with their vehicles and ushering in an era of enhanced on-road experiences. Mercedes-Benz hopes to be at the epicentre of these tectonic shifts by incorporating immersive technologies into their upcoming fleet. Their goal is to fundamentally transform user experiences, not just technological ones. Realising this ambitious vision, however, necessitates an in-depth exploration of this domain to ensure that the proposed innovations provide tangible value to end-users. This thesis delves into the complexities of such plausible futures, focusing on users’ perceptions and expectations of these technological interventions. This thesis combines speculative design and context mapping methodologies in a synergistic manner. The former allows users to empathise with potential realities by facilitating the creation and exploration of future scenarios. Context mapping, on the other hand, deepens our understanding of user needs, concerns, and aspirations, resulting in more nuanced and resonant solutions. The thesis begins this investigation by delving into the theoretical underpinnings of XR in AVs, focusing on the intersections of autonomy and immersion levels. Following trend and stakeholder analysis, the existing tensions in this space were revealed. Five meticulously crafted future scenarios sparked conversations with selected participants during context mapping sessions. Thematic analysis revealed shifting vehicle perceptions, the changing nature of space within autonomous vehicles, and the criteria for successful XR integration in AVs. This process also shed light on the specific dynamics and implications of the tensions highlighted in the scenarios. As a result, some tensions were validated, new values emerged, and inherent biases towards certain values became evident. Unsurprisingly, safety emerged as the top priority, with tensions especially high during control negotiations between systems and users, i.e. in Takeover (TO) scenarios. To address this criticality, the research focused on creating an ideal TO journey, with the goal of seamlessly transitioning a user from an immersive state to assuming vehicle control, all while minimising safety-related concerns. This design process, which was subjected to expert scrutiny, resulted in a comprehensive experience map and a detailed video elucidating the TO experience, capturing the intricate dynamics of user-system interactions. The feedback from these expert consultations not only validated but also enriched the research, pointing out areas for further investigation and refinement. The resulting experience video was useful in focus group sessions, allowing the research team to identify elements that resonated and those that needed to be reconsidered. Finally, the thesis emphasises the importance of collaborative problem-solving by highlighting key tensions, most notably the delicate balance between immersion and safety. Furthermore, it lays out a strategy for future research in this area, emphasising the robust potential of speculative design as an invaluable research tool, particularly in corporate settings. This study provides a blueprint for how companies like Mercedes-Benz can navigate the convergence of immersive technologies and autonomous vehicles, ensuring a future in which technology enhances, rather than dictates, the human experience.

Object-mediated fidgeting (pen clicking, ring spinning, paper folding, etc.) is a pervasive and often unaware human behavior. Despite its prevalence, fidgeting has no consensus cause or effect in existing scientific literature. This graduation project seeks to operationalize fidgeting through and with design to enable affect self-regulation, or the recognition and modification of emotions and mood states. In particular, the Fidget Spheres concept and prototype aim to move users towards a “productive” mood state. Further, we consider the use context as traditional offices and higher education, in situations such as a lecture, conference meeting, quiet desk work, or a video call. Key project outcomes are “constructed” – both a physical prototype and future concept, but also a theoretical landscape of fidgeting. The project began with a literature review, launching from the topics of “somaesthetics,” emotion, and interaction design. While somaesthetics is not the guiding principle for the final design concept and generated knowledge, it served as a vehicle to introduce many relevant topics, such as embodied interaction, extended cognition, implicit and explicit interaction, affective loops, and mind wandering. Research into these disparate domains, once synthesized, yielded key takeaways that informed concept directions and desired interaction characteristics for later development. After acquiring a theoretical background, three research activities were conducted to better understand both fidgeting and affect. A three-person introspective experience scanning exercise yielded early insights about the intent of fidgeting. Next, analysis of a short-response survey on stress coping mechanisms revealed common mechanisms and strategies for affect self-regulation. Third, an intensive Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) was conducted on a large public data set of ‘Fidget Widgets’ and use descriptions. These study results, taken alongside the literature review, drive our theory of “Reflexive Focus Bounding” and the embodiment of the Fidget Spheres prototype and concept. Concept directions were loosely explored before settling on “Fidget Spheres,” a set of handheld spherical fidget objects inspired by Chinese Baoding meditation balls. This simple and adaptable platform allows for future iteration and development of interaction and haptic feedback modes. The prototype was used to embody specific interactions with responsive vibration feedback and was evaluated by six participants in a focus group session. While prototype development was not finished during the project term, rich insights from literature, data analysis, and prototype testing were still sufficient to create the final concept vision for Fidget Spheres. The concept video details the use case, effects, and interaction characteristics for the envisioned and optimized Fidget Spheres. This graduation project constructs both a fidgeting design space through synthesis of cross-disciplinary knowledge, and an embodied prototype to enable affect regulation through established ‘mindless’ or implicit fidgeting behavior. Future work can conduct more detailed analyses of the perception of varied feedback modalities in-situ, as well as prove (or disprove) the proposed Reflexive Focus Bounding theory. The prototype could be evolved with “personalization” protocols and the implementation of other haptic feedback modes.

Human-computer interactions should be as inclusive as possible, nowadays. Designers play a vital role in making products, services, and systems usable by a diverse range of users. Mobile applications use vibrations (tactons) to convey information about, for example, messages coming in. The quality of vibrotactile communication can be greatly enhanced by involving in the desing proces the experts when it comes to feeling: people with deafblindness. By involving the haptic experts, mobile applications using vibrotactile communication can become more inclusive for all users. This thesis addresses the challenge of usability versus flexibility when co-designing with haptic experts. The goal is to establish an equal level of control among all co-designers, including the haptic experts. To achieve this, Shape2Vibe has been developed by using a research-through-design approach. The design process drew inspiration from cross-modal perception. Moreover, clay modelling experiments were conducted for creating embodiments of four dinstinct basic vibration effects from Adafruit’s haptic motor library. Shape2Vibe has proved effective in facilitating communication during the co-design process, enabling participants to express their ideas through the positioning of blocks. Equal control is ensured for all co-designers because communication for all participants is brought to the same level. The four shapes representing basic vibration effects adequately support co-design sessions for everyday design cases, such as fire alarms. However, designing vibrations to convey emotions or association-based scenarios requires additional communication and a more layered approach due to the context dependent nature of emotions. Therefore, it is recommended to further research wether more association based shapes facilitate more abstract design cases. Overall, this thesis contributes to the advancement of inclusive designs by assisting other designers in co-designing vibrations with haptic experts. By having involved haptic experts, the research has succeeded in creating an inclusive and usable tool and method useful for applications in the field of vibrotactile communication.

The Tensile headphone is a redesign of the HD6xx line for Sennheiser, to showcase new ideas of haptic aesthetic headphones and explore innovative directions. The project as a whole followed the Research through Design approach. That is, the design detailing of the Tensile headphone was used as a medium to gain knowledge about how aesthetic theories for product design (usually developed for the visual sense), are applicable to the haptic sense. It was found that the researched aesthetic theories (unity - variety and novelty - typicality) can be applied to some extent to the haptic senses, with some factors to be considered. The RtD also helped understand how to better design for haptic aesthetics in headphones, but also expanding to other product categories. There were three main design activities that led to these findings. An exploratory session with four groups of design students helped guide the design process to a haptically novel outcome. Once the design was completed, an empirical test was conducted on one aesthetic principle, testing iterations of the design. The chosen iteration was incorporated into a final design with which the second aesthetic principle was tested in a qualitative study with audiophiles (sound and audio gadget enthusiasts).

Domestic kitchens are the heart of modern households, a space that embraces social gatherings and most importantly, where pleasures associated with interacting with food arise while cooking and eating. Nevertheless, the way technology is being introduced in this context moves away from this ritual aspect of kitchens as it focuses on a rather rational side, focused on efficiency and functionality to fix undesired problems. The goal of this project has been approaching the introduction of autonomous agents in domestic kitchens in a celebratory way, emphasising the positive aspects of Human-Food interaction with a special focus on culinary creativity. Speculative design has served as a means to set the mindset in the near future and design according to a scenario where kitchen appliances will be smarter and capable of gathering more information from the cooking process. The project has been executed with a strong focus on research, both on a theoretical and user-context level, resulting in the design of a concept that conveys a potential solution for the above-mentioned challenge. Sous, the cooking assistant designed in this thesis responds to the following Design Goal “Gaggenau users should feel like Home Chefs when cooking in their kitchens”. Feeling like a Home Chef involves being the leader of the (domestic) kitchen, feeling in control, exploring creative opportunities, and having a certain level of culinary knowledge. The design revolves around celebratory technologies based on principles of autonomy and embodied interactions, the theoretical background from this project. Sous is a wearable that allows Home Chefs to have a deeper understanding of the preparations being cooked by providing real-time feedback about doneness or sensory aspects among other information. With this, the aim is that Home Chefs would be able to enjoy more the cooking process while ensuring the best result for the dishes they cook. The collaboration that is created when Home Chefs cook with Sous aims to maximise human capacities while maximising the possibilities of technology in a way that ensures both entities’ autonomy and richness of interactions.

This master thesis explores the potential of Rhythmic Entrainment (RE) for product design applications. The research starts by defining some of the important terms and providing example cases of RE from products and research. A comparison between the cases illuminates the possibilities RE can have for product design and research. [1] RE can create interesting new product interactions, [2] the theory is not applied as broadly across industries. The second part of this thesis aims to collect and present the knowledge that is relevant to start designing with RE. A framework inspired by embodied interactions is presented, categorizing between human-product-context. The framework approaches designing with RE in an iterative manner, fostering simplicity while acknowledging the complexity of the design process. A product Benchmark test showed that being “hands on” can help designers understand the design tensions. These tensions are caused by the temporality of rhythm, the interaction between factors of the system and the particularity of cases. Interviews with experts in rhythm (by job, hobby or ability) showed how it can evoke strong emotions and create engaging experiences. The latter occurs when the full system interacts with each other, creating a loop of continuous feedback on the human rhythm, provided by the context or product. In literature, these symmetrical interactions with rhythm are considered valuable, but the practical knowledge and applications are not available. Therefore the last part determines the factors that influence different levels of responsive interactions from research. To test wether a more responsive interaction is preferable, a research through design case is executed with a design problem from Glimp. It wants to adjust its breathing rhythm to the user and guide it towards the goal rhythm of the exercise. This case resulted in a concept that applies a “configuration” level of responsiveness, while taking skill and data collection into account. The outcome of the research shows that a product can also be too responsive and that time influences sensor choices and the output. All of the results are summarized in the RE4Design framework that aims to inform designers about the topic in a visual and understandable manner.

Magnetic shape memory materials are special types of materials that can change their shape in the presence of a magnetic field, this happens because of how the incorporated magnetic micro or nano particles arrange themselves. Magnetic shape memory materials have many exciting applications, especially in the fields of robotics and devices that move or change shape. They can be used to create smart devices that can move in a controlled way, like small robots or machines used in medical procedures. These materials are also useful for sensing and responding to changes in their environment. This project has already seen development at the TU Delft in the Department of Industrial Design Engineering in the form of the 2 graduation projects of Sanne van Vilsteren and Kevin van der Lans. In this project, the development of the 4D printer setup was overhauled from the previous setup and redesigned to improve upon the various shortcomings of the previous set up. The ink was also experimented with to some extent, testing parameters such as its viscosity and reaction to external magnetic fields. In addition to this, multiple concepts were ideated, and designed through, to create a set of demonstrators in various fields such as haptics, biomimicry and simple mechanisms to show the various functionalities that can be achieved by this printer.

The Ethereal Engine combines fitness with gaming and VR. By using two actuated armatures and foot platforms, the machine can provide users with force feedback while they enjoy a multitude of simulations that do not feel like a workout at all. Regular physical exercise is very difficult for many people. This can lead to poor health and increased associated risks for the body and the mind. The Ethereal Engine offers a solution: With exhilarating and exhausting experiences, users can fly with an ornithopter through magical landscapes or paddle through alien waters on foreign planets. Invented and under development by the company Ethereal Matter in the US, the project spans multiple countries, TU Delft faculties and student projects. In this graduation project, the next design of the frame for this very machine is proposed, with a special focus on user perception on the one hand, and engineering-related topics on the other. The project commences with user research into spatial perception emotion and the experience of transitioning from and to VR. Practical limitations such as maximum carrying weights, door and truck dimensions, and intended use cases result in manufacturability, transport, assembly and durability requirements. By using and adapting generative design tools (McNeel’s Rhino, Grasshopper and the plugin Karamba3D) for structural spaceframe design, a satisfying solution is found for the main structure. This basic structure is then designed around and iterated upon using VR reality tools like Gravity Sketch to create frame layouts that feel comfortable and safe. Constant iteration and testing in VR leads to a modular frame layout that allows multiple machines to be connected, but also up or downgraded to more or less extensive versions. Features like a mirror, a space to safely store personal belongings, and integrated lighting are proposed. The machine has fabric for the outside covering which is customizable, affordable and easy to transport. The final design includes a seat in the back with an attached screen for outside viewers to see what is happening in VR. Added interactive elements could lead to whole new interactions between people in the real world with the people in VR. Accompanying the project was the construction and assembly of a partial prototype of the frame and one armature in the Dreamhall of the TU Delft. It is upon the next students to finalise the second Ethereal Engine in the world and perform the (first?) intercontinental handshake through VR.