A Mixed Reality System for Kansei-Based Co-Design of Highly-Customized Products

We designed a new Computer-Aided Design tool that can be easily and intuitively used by non-expert designers, like users of the products being designed. The target application is the design of highly-customized products together with the final users, more specifically the design of walking assistiv e devices with mobility-impaired people. The tool has simultaneously been developed with an ad-hoc protocol for an accurate evaluation of the satisfaction of users, through questionnaires and psychophysiological measurements. In fact, costly and complex technical products such as walking assistance devices require ad-hoc design processes to address the specific needs of each user. The characterization of user requirements in the early stage of design remains difficult due to their subjective and communication gap between the user and the designer. To overcome these issues, we propose a new modular digital toolbox that allows co-design between users and designers. The tool is a combination of a mixed reality hardware/software system and kansei (or affective) engineering techniques. The hardware consists of modular Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs), custom-made by 3D printing and powered by a 3D game engine. The interactive content is displayed in mixed reality, simultaneously to the user and the designer. Kansei data of the users are collected through questionnaires and psychophysical measurements, during multiple collaboration phases.