This ‘Touchless’ Button Could Be A Gamechanger For COVID-Proof Everyday Design
Image by STUCK Design and featured with permission
People’s innate urge to press a button, especially when they’re told not to, could be driven by a curiosity about what will unfold before their eyes as a result of their own actions. Perhaps this is why many haven’t yet gotten used to the contactless solutions developed in response to COVID-19.
Since the dawn of the global coronavirus crisis, Singapore-based multidisciplinary studio STUCK Design has been looking for innovative, accessible ways to overcome constrictions brought about by the virus. Some of them were covered by DesignTAXI, and they include a mask sterilizer you can prepare with food storage containers as well as striking communicative door hangers.
The latest design in the agency’s ongoing project to advance life in a COVID era is Kinetic Touchless, its proposed interaction for touchless elevator buttons.
Image by STUCK Design and featured with permission
Unlike the usual contactless interactions, which use static sensors that trigger lights or buzzers as feedback, Kinetic Touchless uses motion to indicate response, bringing back the familiarity of the push button without the risk that comes with direct contact.
With your finger hovering a button, the Kinetic Touchless button replicates the tactile pushing motion by sinking inwards and pushing back out.
Image by STUCK Design and featured with permission
“In doing so, Kinetic Touchless capitalizes on the flexibility of contactless interactions while maintaining the tactility of contact interactions,” STUCK Design explains in a statement shared with DesignTAXI.
Beyond push buttons, the firm hopes to explore the Kinetic Touchless concept with other everyday gestures, like pulling and sliding.
“By going beyond the expected feedback of light and sound, Kinetic Touchless provides a surprisingly delightful and yet newly familiar way to interact with contactless technology,” the studio details.
[via STUCK Design, images featured with permission]
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