TEXT:
The shift to more privacy and personalisation in hospitality will likely retain significant value following the pandemic, increasing the necessity for new forms of hospitality to emerge. We are interested in how simulation and stimulation will be used to offer more personalised forms of future hospitality. We believe it is important to consider the future of living/working methods and environments as key drivers for hospitality. With the anticipated increase in working-from-home following the pandemic, we are considering how hospitality will offer inner-city sanctuaries in response to increased significance in locality and WFM monotony. We are also considering how everyday hospitality may emerge and fit between more fluid living/ working schedules.
With this in mind, our proposal is intended to be situated within an urban context, to provide momentary hospitality experiences as a form of everyday therapy. ‘Wellness hotspots’ are haptic devices at the scale of a large furniture piece that stimulates the body through touch points as a feedback interface to a digital experience. This digital content could include XR / VR stimuli that aims to recuperate mental and physical well being. The scale is large enough to form a spatial enclosure, giving privacy to the user. It also allows for small groups of collective experience, for example someone could use the space with their partner or friends. Soft openings in the geometry also provide an element of openness and breathability to this intimate space. The haptic furniture is designed through multi-material techniques as a heterogeneous product that allow material properties of colour and stiffness to be controlled. The exterior shell is materially graded to provide structural reinforcement along the stress loads of the surface. Internally, pneumatic silicon pockets on the touch points could allow for these properties to be adjusted, which could also include temperature, according to the simulated environment the user is interfacing with. A range of body positions were used to define the space algorithmically, allowing the design to be mass customised according to individual clients or users. The device could offer an other-worldly experience that revitalises the body as a form of wellness. Through the use of 3D printed biopolymer composites, bioplastics and silicone elastomers, a more sustainable method of fabrication is proposed.
