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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/C513983/1
Title: Sensory Design and its Implications for Design in the 21st Century- a Designing for the 21st Century Research Cluster
Principal Investigator: Richards, Mr B
Other Investigators:
Wallace, Professor M fortune, Professor f Barham, Professor PJ
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Dr M Moore
Project Partners:
Fat Duck Ltd National Association of Teachers Science Museum
Department: Innovation Centre
Organisation: University of the Arts London
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 January 2005 Ends: 31 December 2005 Value (£): 48,669
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Design Engineering Design Processes
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Food and Drink
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
The proposed research focuses on a new area of Design called Sensory Design . Most traditional areas of Design, whether interior design, architectural design or even clothing design have to do with using colour, shape, form, that is, typically with our sense of sight There are, of course, people who put together the music and ambient sounds like background noise for animation or cartoons, and these people, or sound designers, creatively design sounds. There are even people who are using genetics who are starting to design new foods for us to eat So, when you need a building designed, you call in an architectural designer. If a company wishes to create a new perfume, it brings in special perfume designers. When you want to draw animation, you bring in another kind of design artist. But until recently, nobody has combined and applied all of these areas of design, dealing with your five senses, to a problem or to create something new.Let' take an example. Everyone knows that of all of your senses, the sense of taste is the key to how you will react to eating a particular food. When a gourmet chooses to create a new dish, he is most particularly concerned with how the final result will taste. Of course, he wants to make a nice presentation of your dish, so tie secondarily will concern himself with how it looks. The chef usually thinks that anything that smells bad is spoiled so he throws it out, but that may be the extent of his concern with smell. But your other senses can also affect how something tastes. Scientists are looking into how sound and texture can affect your olfactory senses. Experimental psychologists are researching the impact of colour and shape on how you experience taste.The purpose of our research is twofold. First, it will be to take food as its subject and put these scientists and psychologists into the same room with creative artists to explore the possible design of food using all of your senses. In particular, our research will look at how different colours will affect a food's taste and how the space around you might also affect how attractive you find a particular food, for example. We do not just wish, however, to explore the possibility for new types of foods, but we want to understand how we can design new experiences of eating.The second purpose of the research will be take what we have learned about sensory design of food and to see how we might apply it to other areas of our experience in life. Some day in the future, don't be surprised if a London transport bus passes you on the street smelling unusually interesting, with a scrolling screen advertisement.
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