Left to Right: Dot Watch, 2017; Dot Incorporation (Seoul, Korea, founded 2014); Anodized aluminum case, gyroscope, touch sensors, wireless MCU platform, leather; Courtesy of Dot Incorporation. Cotton Candy Dish, 2017; Virginia San Fratello (American, born 1971) and Ronald Rael (American, born 1971), Studio Rael Fratello (Oakland, California, USA, founded 1995) and Emerging Objects (Oakland, California, USA, founded 2012); 3D-printed sugar, aromatics; Courtesy of Emerging Objects. Dot Watch, 2017; Prototype, exhibition design for The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, 2017; Studio Joseph; Curtain made from Bolon fibers
Previously On View: April 13, 2018 through October 28, 2018
Explore experimental works and practical solutions designed to inspire wonder and new ways of accessing our world. Wander through a scented snowstorm, play a furry instrument in a Tactile Orchestra, investigate the sonic properties of glass, and experience many more multisensory experiences from some of the world’s most creative thinkers, including Christopher Brosius, KunstLAB Arnhem, Studio Roos Meerman, Maya+Rouvelle, and more. With over 65 design projects and more than 40 objects and installations to touch, hear, and smell, The Senses is an inclusive celebration of the sensory richness of design.
Sensory design recognizes that we understand and navigate the world with all five of our senses. Organized into nine thematic sections, The Senses demonstrates that by opening up to multiple sensory dimensions, designers reach a greater diversity of users. Maps that can be touched as well as seen facilitate mobility and knowledge for sighted, low-vision, and blind users. Audio devices translate sound into vibrations that can be felt on the skin. Tableware and kitchen tools use color and form to guide people living with dementia or vision loss. These innovations are beneficial to all users as sensory design enhances awareness of the body and creates new emotional terrain through its stimulation of our visceral responses.
Designed to be an accessible experience welcoming to visitors of all abilities, The Senses’ exhibition features labels with key elements in braille and a custom smartphone app that will connect visitors to exhibition content via text or audio. Additional accessibility features include T-coil–complaint audio devices and audio descriptions explaining the visual content of videos. The museum will also offer dynamic descriptive exhibition tours of The Senses with trained museum educators, as well as programming for visitors with sensory differences.
Use the free Accessible Exhibitions app to access descriptive and interpretive content in streaming text and audio formats for The Senses. A visitor can enter a content number and choose to read the text, hear it with a screen reader, or listen to an audio recording. The content number entry will also deliver videos and images with accompanying verbal descriptions.
AEIOU I Rear Bump series, from the Sensory Dessert Spoon collection, 2015–18; Jinhyun Jeon (South Korean, born 1981), Studio Jinhyun Jeon; Stainless steel, lacquered and/or 24-carat gold plated; Courtesy of Jinhyun Jeon
Tactile Headset, 2014–18; Alessandro Perini
Frogspawn Typography, from the Visceral Typography collection, 2014; Monique Goossens (Dutch, born 1971); Digital print; Courtesy of Monique Goossens
A call to action for a multisensory design practice, with thematic essays on topics ranging from inclusive design approaches to creative uses of sensory experiences. Order now from SHOP Cooper Hewitt.
In celebration of our new exhibition, The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, this Object of the Day post explores the multi-sensory experience of an object in Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection. In this poster, graphic designer Paul Rand plays with the iconography of eye charts to create a clever advertisement for Yale University. He incorporates the school’s mascot, an...
In celebration of our new exhibition, The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, this Object of the Day post explores the multisensory experience of an object in Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection. Today’s blog post was written by Cynthia Trope and originally published on March 7, 2013. If you grew up in America in the mid-1950s – 1980s, you no doubt...
In celebration of our new exhibition The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, this Object of the Day post explores the multisensory experience of an object in Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection. Dieter Rams, Chief Design Officer for German consumer products manufacturer Braun AG from 1961-95, designed the neutral and unassuming L1 speaker in 1957. Influenced by Braun’s...
In celebration of The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, this Object of the Day post takes a multisensory approach to an object in Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection. This whimsical bracelet from Daniel Jocz’s Candy Wear series reminds us that one of the most important aspects of jewelry is the joy it brings to both the wearer...
In celebration of our new exhibition, The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, this Object of the Day post explores the multisensory experience of an object in Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection. Today’s blog post was written by Greg Herringshaw and originally published on October 22, 2015. Cord #1 is a greatly magnified image of vertical cords or yarn which...
In celebration of our new exhibition, The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, this Object of the Day post explores the multisensory experience of an object in Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection. Traditionally formed by hand, ceramic vessels possess inherent organic characteristics. Their forms have often been influenced by or imitated the shapes of human bodies since the...
Cooper Hewitt’s exhibition The Senses: Design Beyond Vision (April 13–October 28, 2018) is one of our museum’s early explorations in developing exhibition design that is accessible to all visitors, including people with sensory differences. Many museums do a good job making their facilities wheelchair-accessible and meeting basic ADA requirements, but it’s another matter to offer...
Featured Image:
Left to Right: Dot Watch, 2017; Dot Incorporation (Seoul, Korea, founded 2014); Anodized aluminum case, gyroscope, touch sensors, wireless MCU platform, leather; Courtesy of Dot Incorporation. Cotton Candy Dish, 2017; Virginia San Fratello (American, born 1971) and Ronald Rael (American, born 1971), Studio Rael Fratello (Oakland, California, USA, founded 1995) and Emerging Objects (Oakland, California, USA, founded 2012); 3D-printed sugar, aromatics; Courtesy of Emerging Objects. Dot Watch, 2017; Prototype, exhibition design for The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, 2017; Studio Joseph; Curtain made from Bolon fibers
