For the past three decades, research on the topic of synaesthesia has been largely dominated by the field of psychology and neuroscience, and has focused on scientifically investigating its experience and causes to define the phenomenon of synaesthesia.
However, the scientific research on this subject is now enquiring into potential future implementations and asking how this subject may be useful to wider audiences, and is attempting to expand its research spectrum beyond the mere scientific analysis. This PhD
research in design by practice attempts to contribute and expand this scope: it shares a creative interpretation of synaesthesia research and questions its existing boundary.
The past synaesthesia research in design has been largely focused on the possibility and potentials of sensory optimisation and cross-modal sensory interaction between users and artefacts. However, this research investigates the provocative properties and
characteristics of synaesthesia and shares different approaches to its application for generating creative ideas in design. This PhD research presents nine projects, and they consist of approaches to synaesthesia application, toolkits and validations.
Synaesthesia is one of those rare subjects where both science and creative context intersect and nurture each other. By looking into this PhD research, readers may gain insights of how a designer tries to discover a new value within this interdisciplinary
context. This research contributes three types of new knowledge and new perspectives. Firstly, it provides a new interpretation and awareness in and of synaesthesia research, and expands its research boundaries, moving from analysis based research to application
based research. Secondly, it outlines three approaches, a range of themes and toolkits for using synaesthesia as a provocation in generating creative ideas in the design process.
Thirdly, it identifies the differences between previous synaesthesia application research and current application research within the context of design.
Research on the topic of synaesthesia has been boosted significantly since the technological innovations (e.g. fMRI brain scanning and neuroimaging) in the early 1990s.
However, this research was somewhat limited to scientific analysis analysis in order to understand the nature of the phenomenon. This research paradigm and the scientific focus have now shifted, and they are attempting to discover the potentials of
synaesthesia’s usefulness through different disciplines and channels. How can we apply the provocative qualities of synaesthesia within the context of design? This research journey begins by investigating this foundational question from a designer’s point of view.