Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Kansei information in
the external world
Implicit Kansei
information
H
H
M
M
Inspiration
Information gathering
Storage in
memory
Explicit concept
generation
L
L
Mental processing
Sensory capture, picking,
selecting, gathering
Mental processing
Categorisation, recall,
association
Fig. 1 Kansei information processing
2.4 Metaphors and Analogies
The provision of semantic contexts is crucial to the designers, facilitating the
cognitive associations and the identi
!
cation of analogies. Analogies are called from
analogical reasoning in a process where the subject will get from a problem source
to a target solution which partly or fully answers to the problem. In this process, we
use the term metaphor when the relation between the source and the target is not
involving a certain amount of similarity of information between the source and the
target. Picking and using analogical references is a key part of designers' infor-
the preferred sources of inspiration. A big amount of these inspiration sources may
be taken unconsciously out of a professional context. The designers search for
images from semantically related domains, such as sports, nature (biomorphism,
providing analogy in combination with examples of functional ef
!
ciency), or arts
(music, cinema, painting, sculpture).
3 Kansei Information Process
3.1 Kansei Information
Design information is very speci
!
c in the way that its integration and transfor-
mation involves affective processes. Kansei is a complex informational process
carried out by a designer or a consumer who perceives a design stimulus. Kansei is
a Japanese word which covers multidimensional meanings such as feelings, emo-
information which is by nature analogical and fuzzy, Kansei also refers to the nature
of the relations that the designers are used to establish between various levels of
abstraction of information. It involves both cognitive and affective processes which
