CCDN 231

Experimental Design Ideas

Project One: Sensory Ethnography

For this project I had to observe, document and analyse my own sensory experience for 3 everyday activities, with the reveal of the experiences that often go unnoticed. My proposal is that I will look into the activities that I do every morning, so I know in and out the actions that I do on a regularly basis. This will help me reveal the sensory experiences that I don't take into accounted for. 

The first activity that I analysed was the very first thing that I do in the morning after I wake up and that's check what's going on in my social life. It's become a habit these days and I thought I'd look into it more deeply. I wanted to analyse the activity of typing, and to compare the differences between typing using my computer, and typing out a text on my phone. Here's what I came up with:

Typing on my computer:

I, like most people are often on their computer either doing work, or simply just rummaging around checking our Facebook and talking to friends. Whilst we're doing this, we don't take into account that we are constantly typing (wow I just realised that I'm typing right now). Every keyboard has a different feel to it but once you've used it enough, it becomes part of you. Instead of paying attention to what was happening on the screen, I glanced down lower to consider the sensory experiences I was having with this 68-key keyboard right in front of me. The first thing I noticed was the unique sound of the keys being pressed over and over and over and (you get the point) over again. Most of the keys sounded exactly the same, except for one that stood out more than the rest.. Yes that would be the space bar. It was flattering. Another sensory experience I had with typing on the computer was the feel to it. Although the letters "F" and "J" have unique bumps to it to aid people to type without looking at the screen, it only just crossed my mind that this was happening. That I could feel these bumps all the time but just didn't take it into account. The last sensory experience I had was that I noticed that I kept looking down to make sure I was typing correctly, call me a rookie but we (most of us) do it. 
For the second part of this activity, I used my phone to type instead of the keyboard. Me having an iPhone 5, it is fully touch screen and if my phone is on silent (which it always is), I don't really get any sensory experiences with it that are unique, it's smooth to touch, the only sound it makes is my fingers tapping on the screen which is equivalent to a fish farting in the ocean. 

Cooking Breakfast:

The second activity that I love to do in the morning is to cook breakfast. The day I chose to document this activity I happened to have sausages. I thought wow, this would be a good idea! And it was, and it was tasty. The process however was quite slow but the very first thing I noticed was that I got oil on my hands. This feeling really does suck as oil is a pain in the butt to wash off. It made my fingers all shiny as well. Moving past that the next part was turning the over top on. This was exciting as to when I turned it on, it made a random sound that sounds like I had just ignited something. Like it was ready for the sausages, and the sausages were indeed ready for it. With the tensions running high, I placed the sausages on the frying pan and my senses tingled. I heard the sizzle from the oil and water scorch away, the strong meaty smell whiffs in my nostrils, the savagely hot oil scalding my skin as it flares my eyes. And all of a sudden, out of no where..the toast jumps up like a kangaroo playing Marco Polo in a field of wheat. It scared the crap out of me! When the sausages were done and placed nicely on the toast, i grabbed the tomato sauce and shook it. I heard the almost empty bottle splash its content around with the weight changing between the shake of my wrist. I opened the cap *POP* and squeezed it like my life depended on it. Now this is where I had to go look at myself in the mirror. No matter what age you are, or how mature you are,  the sound of an empty bottle farting is hilarious! I couldn't help but laugh as it extracted itself from the plastic bottle.

My um..Hair:

So I was pondering on ideas on what to do for my last activity that I do every morning. And I had to do it. My hair. First step is to twist the tub of goodness open, feeling that old sticky and stuck feeling of an old container trying to restrain itself from letting me open it. I dipped my finger inside it's sticky self, smelling the combination of the cherry and rose aroma, slowly spreading it all over my hands as the friction between them picked up. I looked at myself in the mirror, and said yes, I am ready. I spread my hands over my short and straight hair like I was patting a Lion for the first time, carefully and surely. I heard my hands twisting my hair as it thickened to a better shape. By this time the scent got so strong that I could almost taste the cherry blossoms on my tongue, as I parted my way through my hair to make it as perfect as I can. With a few final touches I noticed that my hair had now gone hard and spiky, as it prickled me while I played with it. I stopped, looked at my reflection and smiled. I turned the tap on and it made a rusty crooked sound like it needed oil, once again restraining itself from my forceful pull. The water blasted and splashed my feeling the cold wetness of the temperature. The sound was eradicating, blasting my ears away like a Pokemon using a special move. I ran my hands over the cold water shivering slightly, as I rubbed them together to wash off the remains of the hair product. The smell slowly started to go away and my nostrils tingled with cleanness. I shook my hands and heard the water slap the side of the sink. I was ready.