Designing Virtual Physicality
Design principles in the age of immersive technologies
Tangible, physical things
Usually, designing physical objects implies first, looking at their intended functions and then figuring out a way to make everything fit into a cohesive design.
In an attempt to answer a breadth of needs such as human interactions and manufacturing processes, a designer has to make decisions that will lead to an elegant solution, the aesthetic value of which being “an inherent part of the function” [1].
While a standalone camera, for instance, has to offer a grip so it can be held comfortably and provide space for the numerous segments of glass that form a lens, a smartphone, on the other hand, is designed so as the taking-picture function does not disrupt its primary function: being a communication and content consumption tool.
In both cases the shape of the product informs us on what its function is.
This is embodied by the famous design mantra “form follows function” attributed to the American architect Louis Henry Sullivan [2].
Not every designer or architect will agree with this statement of course, but it is fair to say that generally in physical world design (including architecture), form allows function.
Digital products
On the other end of the spectrum, if we look at the digital world, designers don’t really have to worry about the laws of physics or the limitations of a manufacturing process over another.
In the digital world, it seems that the only remaining artefact of our physical reality is summarised by the question of Skeuomorphism (in interaction design, a physical world mimicry of sorts that stretches from seemingly superficial questions on aesthetics all the way to complex user interaction principles [3])
Undoubtedly, designing a digital product or interface requires coping with user expectations and interaction habits (e.g. scrolling or pinch zooming) but, in effect, spatial limitations are 2-dimensional and non persistent.
A new paradigm
Now looking into the future, chances are that many of the objects we use today will be replaced by virtual objects, materialised through Augmented Reality (AR). We might have one physical device, perhaps a pair of glasses, that emulates the objects we usually interact with.
Of course, there will still be physical saucepans and watering cans, but for a large part, objects that keep industrial designers busy today (i.e. watches, smartphones, laptops, cameras and even thermostats) may well be replaced by their virtual counterparts.
This raises an interesting question: What design rule prevails when the physical and the digital worlds collide?
Does everything become a floating User Interface as the most inspiring stock images we see these days seem to suggest?
Or on the contrary, could Skeuomorphism become the go-to design principle of the virtual physicality in an attempt to make AR more acceptable?
And if so, will there be a time reference point?
The case of VR
If Augmented Reality (AR) still might sound like a somewhat distant future, Virtual Reality (VR) is already being used all around the world for numerous gaming and non-gaming applications such as virtual tours, education, medical visualisation and training.
Content has to be created for these simulations and it involves a lot of design happening in the background.
In a way, most of this design work can be considered as prop design: its function is mostly an aesthetic one serving a storytelling goal.
More often than not however, the design work will focus on a virtual product or tool with a complex function, on which the experience might rely entirely.
Not having any physical world limitations as a constraint or a starting point can leave the designer with a feeling of standing in front of a blank canvas. In turn, this is an exciting area for design experimentation.
This is certainly what I realised when we decided to make a VR adaptation of Magic Hour, a photography simulator we had initially developed for iOS [4].
Design experiments
On the iPad version, our design is largely inspired by the existing camera interface to make it as intuitive as possible. In fact, our camera is simply an alteration of the normal view triggered by a button.
For the VR version we soon came to the conclusion that none of these common digital interface abstractions would make sense and that the design of the camera could be crucial to the experience.
As strange as it might sound, our initial idea was to turn the framing into a full-body experience where an ant-sized version of the user gets teleported into the viewfinder of the camera which in turn becomes a control room.
It all felt great until we had to decide how movements of the camera could be operated from within the viewfinder-turned-tank.
Another experiment, a less radical one, led us to design a frame-like camera that floated in the air wherever it was left. It was a satisfying sensation, but a limited experience.
A few iterations later we ended up with a 27-inch screen camera, large enough to offer a comfortable framing experience without fully blocking the view around it. For controls that required frequent access, we chose to go with thick sliders providing visual feedback of their set position.
Looking at how people use our camera, one can say that its visual language (which uses a good dose of Skeuomorphism) helps users understand what it is and how it works.
Nevertheless, struggle comes from the use of the VR controllers which are new to most of us and different from one manufacturer to another.
In fact, it seems that until we have a VR and AR “unified UX language”, which works across all the hardware brands and makes sense to most of us, designing virtual physicality will need to be kept at its simplest.
In the meantime, this should not restrain us from experimenting with these new tools and expanding the way we think about design. I see at least three areas of interest for designers in this new context:
Scale: Why should we conform to the scale of the objects that we know in the physical world? In fact, the ability to think at different scales is likely to be key for designing virtual physicality.
Time: If scale become a new design variable why limit its variation to the design stage? A virtual device could change visually and physically over time to offer new functionalities. While time has been the working tool of animators for decades, it remains largely unused in other forms of design. And it is never too late, unless we jump directly to the next point.
Artificial Intelligence: We will see more and more designers creating and/or using intelligent systems to extend and elevate their creativity. With the help of immersive technologies, AI could give a grander meaning to responsive design [5]: Imagine smart virtual devices designed to evolve and adapt to the user, both in their spatial aspect and in their functions.
Conclusion and perspectives
We have reached an exciting turning point where we see the emergence of a new design discipline and this is a fantastic chance to apply physical world design thinking to a digital context where physical constraints have disappeared and where prototyping can be done faster than ever.
While all this new tools and technologies might sound scary to some of us, this is an opportunity to come back to a more holistic approach to design.
Dieter Rams, Marianne Brandt, Walter Gropius, Jean Prouvé and Raymond Loewy were not trained as industrial designers and yet they remain defining characters of the practise. Throughout their careers, they have shown us that designers should think at different scales and break free from isolated areas of expertise.
Guillaume Couche
Notes and references:
Unless stated otherwise, illustrations are from the author
- Papanek, Victor (1985). Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change. London: Thames and Hudson.
- Sullivan, Louis (1896). “The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered” Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine.
- What is Skeuomorphism? https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/skeuomorphism
- Magic Hour: Learn Photography: https://vimeo.com/191671397
- To be fair, the real term is Responsive Web Design: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_web_design
