**3. Methodologies developed**

This section is intended to communicate to peers (industrial designers and product engineers) the methodological results achieved. These concern stepwise methods to study technologies as determinants of a product's shape and to propose new shapes for products embedding emerging technologies. A number of technologies are considered in relation to a set of products, as a means to show how technology has influenced object shape and how new technologies (e.g. OLED – organic light emitting diodes, MEMS – micro-electro-mechanical systems and energy harvesting) may promote archetype renewal.

Technology is a key player in today's society; it is the engine of our development and our innovation. Predicting its future uses necessitates systematic approaches, attempting to build future scenarios about the way science, technology, society and economy will evolve, in order to promote their benefits and make the most of the impacts that the future may bring (Glenn, Gordon & Florescu 2008 as cited by Damrongchai & Michelson 2009) . According to this report, the look to the future is optimistic as it will bring progress in various fields, including technology, which promises to have the ability to make the world

this chapter presents the systematic methodology used so that it can be replicated in other product or technology contexts. This chapter is intended to present the methodologies developed during the study and to explain the course of each of the methodologies and the

The methodology that is meant to analyse the feasibility of applying an emerging technology in a given product was applied to three cases (Corda 2010), and is made up of five steps in order to analyze and compare the technologies. The intent of this methodology is to attempt to predict if the emergent technology is viable for application in a given product; as such, any technology that is incorporated, or has been incorporated, in a particular product is considered in the analysis and compared with the emerging technology that is intended to come to be incorporated in the same product. As a result of this methodology, one becomes aware of the performance of each selected technology in a given product, and gets to compare the performance of the product depending on the technology that enables the product features (specific and general) that were considered important for the analysis. This methodology is complemented with the use of another methodology, determining the causality of changes in technology on the external shape of

The awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of each technology, in order to verify whether there is any viability in embedding an emerging technology in a product, is followed by the examination of the changes that have occurred by way of deployment of different technologies in the product. The methodology for determining the causality of changes caused by technology (changes in the external shape of the products analysed) also consists of five steps and connects the shape changes occurred in the products with the

It is important to provide a comprehensive perspective to support peers who intend to pursue the implementation of the two methods mentioned above, providing a (tripartite) categorization which is primarily a catalogue of the typological consequences of the influence of technology on the form of a product, as a result of applying the two

This section is intended to communicate to peers (industrial designers and product engineers) the methodological results achieved. These concern stepwise methods to study technologies as determinants of a product's shape and to propose new shapes for products embedding emerging technologies. A number of technologies are considered in relation to a set of products, as a means to show how technology has influenced object shape and how new technologies (e.g. OLED – organic light emitting diodes, MEMS – micro-electro-mechanical systems and energy harvesting) may promote archetype

Technology is a key player in today's society; it is the engine of our development and our innovation. Predicting its future uses necessitates systematic approaches, attempting to build future scenarios about the way science, technology, society and economy will evolve, in order to promote their benefits and make the most of the impacts that the future may bring (Glenn, Gordon & Florescu 2008 as cited by Damrongchai & Michelson 2009) . According to this report, the look to the future is optimistic as it will bring progress in various fields, including technology, which promises to have the ability to make the world

emergence of a categorization that is divided into three types.

various technologies that incorporate each particular product.

**3. Methodologies developed** 

methodologies presented in the process of technological product design.

the product.

renewal.

work in a better way than it does today. There are a number of technologies that, according to Bengisu (2003) and Bengisu & Bekhili (2006), will be the most promising technologies for the near future. This selection was established based on an approach that relates the number of scientific publications with the number of patents over the years. Those reports acknowledge the existence of many emerging technologies such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, super-insulating materials and structures, hydrogen storage and combustion technology. OLED, MEMS and Energy harvesting were chosen because they are emerging technologies that already are used and are soon to emerge on a large scale in the market. Additionally, because the technology and product pairs focused in this chapter were chosen simultaneously, the technology and the product had to be mutually compatible, so they could be articulated (technology and product) enabling the creation of new designs.

Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED), which are also called Light Emitting Polymers (LEP), are a technology which is at the forefront of bright screens and monitors, and has been steadily developing in recent years. OLEDs reached the media headlines in 2003 with one million units sold as part of a small application for an electric shaver from Philips, which gave an indication of the level of battery charge. Sometime later, a colour screen (OLED) also appeared with great success as a monitor on the back of a camcorder; Kodak (a major driving force in developing this technology) finally launched this image technology for the world market (Salmon 2004).

The development of MEMS, or micro-electromechanical systems, is responsible for an endless number of modern features and applications. This is a technology that has existed for some time but has expanded greatly in recent years, becoming an increasingly promising technology for the future. As we move into the third millennium, the number of applications for MEMS in our daily lives continues to increase, promoting continuously falling production costs for these devices (Beeby et al. 2004).

Energy harvesting (EH) approaches, form a group of means to harvest energy, which due to scarcity of natural resources such as crude oil, and increasing pollution of the planet by some forms of energy production (such as polluting power plants), have began to gain importance and relevance in the production of clean energy. Increasingly there is awareness that every contribution that can save on energy from pollutant sources is welcome. As such, the use of personal devices, with the ability to produce a few milliwatt of power (a thousandth of the electric power needed for a common light bulb), coming from sources captured by forms of micro energy harvesting, are aligned with this purpose.

The first approach that was developed in the study reported in this chapter was to verify the potential application of an emerging technology in a given product, evaluating the application of OLED technology in TV sets. Five specific aspects and five general aspects were selected that were considered crucial to the performance and the quality of this product. In the second case, this methodology was used to predict the feasibility of applying EH technology (which is an approach to self-powering of technological devices, a grouping of forms of energy harvesting) to the clothes pressing warm iron, and likewise five general and five specific aspects were chosen that were considered relevant for this product and that enable the full unfolding of the methodology. The third case of deployment of this methodology consisted in attempting to assess the feasibility of application of MEMS to the vacuum cleaner. Each of the five steps that make up this methodology will be explained in this section, as well as their limitations.

Technology as a Determinant of Object Shape 9

technology. These enable drawing up a Table split between the advantages and disadvantages depending on the technology (view example in Table 3, developed for a specific technology – plasma, used on TVs). The third step consists in compiling the data that were considered relevant, after the drafting of the previous step, to create a Table containing the technologies selected in the first step, including the emerging technology (view example in Table 4 – developed for the vacuum cleaner and with the MEMS emerging technology in mind). Five general aspects considered important to the product (for which the study of the feasibility of applying the emerging technology is intended) and five specific issues which relate to factors that influence the product's performance are chosen. This Table is populated with a range of attributes ranging from acceptable, satisfactory, good, very good or excellent, to qualitatively describe the suitability of the technologies in the ten areas selected for comparison. The comparison of the data collected and the ranking of technologies in order of feasibility, comprise the fourth step of this methodology, which transforms the scale of words used in the previous step in a numerical scale ranging from one to five, where number one corresponds to acceptable and number five to excellent and

Table 3. Advantages and disadvantages of the PDP (Plasma Display Panel) technology in TV

The fifth step entails drawing up a matrix (an example of such is given in Table 5, concerning technologies pertaining to the clothes ironing product) which sums up the values assigned in the fourth step, which in turn had been assigned by matching words and numbers in step three. General aspects are added, which enables concluding which technology has greater suitability, according to these aspects. Finally, the results of general and specific features are summed up, and it is then estimated which is the technology that is more feasible to apply the product selected in general (of the two kinds of aspects, both

the remaining values follow the order of the verbal scale.

sets.

general and specific).

Another methodology is demonstrated in this section. It is intended to assist in determining the causality of changes in technology towards changes in the external shape of products. It hence aims at assessing technology's causality in relation to the changes that have occurred in the shape of the products under study (TV, iron and vacuum cleaner) as technology changed in them, attempting to predict which aspects of shape may arise and disappear with the implementation in these products of the selected emerging technologies. This methodology was applied first to the TV set, and was used to compare the shape in this product, depending on the technology that comprised it. Then the same methodology was employed to try to determine the aspects of form of warm clothes pressing irons according to the technology that they embody, and finally, to determine those aspects of the shape of vacuum cleaners, also depending on technology.

Observation of results and data taken from the application of these two methodologies gave rise to the need to create a comprehensive categorization of all cases of changes occurring in the form of products, which derive directly from the technology they incorporate, resulting in a categorization, consisting of three variations that embrace distinct types of shape changes in products.

#### **3.1 Feasibility analysis of the implementation of an emerging technology in a given product**

The methodology for feasibility analysis of the implementation of an emerging technology in a product consists of five steps (Table 2).

Table 2. Stages of the methodology for feasibility analysis, considering the implementation of an emerging technology in a product.

The first step of this methodology is implemented by choosing an emerging technology, which is intended for study, followed by the choice of product for which the test of feasibility of applying this technology is intended. This is followed by the identification of the technologies used and in use in this product, so that one can establish the comparison and proceed with the remaining actions prescribed in the methodology. The collection of information on technologies makes up the second step, in which one should gather as much information as possible, including the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies that the product uses, and even has used as well as the available data on the emerging

Another methodology is demonstrated in this section. It is intended to assist in determining the causality of changes in technology towards changes in the external shape of products. It hence aims at assessing technology's causality in relation to the changes that have occurred in the shape of the products under study (TV, iron and vacuum cleaner) as technology changed in them, attempting to predict which aspects of shape may arise and disappear with the implementation in these products of the selected emerging technologies. This methodology was applied first to the TV set, and was used to compare the shape in this product, depending on the technology that comprised it. Then the same methodology was employed to try to determine the aspects of form of warm clothes pressing irons according to the technology that they embody, and finally, to determine those aspects of the shape of

Observation of results and data taken from the application of these two methodologies gave rise to the need to create a comprehensive categorization of all cases of changes occurring in the form of products, which derive directly from the technology they incorporate, resulting in a categorization, consisting of three variations that embrace distinct types of shape

**3.1 Feasibility analysis of the implementation of an emerging technology in a given** 

The methodology for feasibility analysis of the implementation of an emerging technology

Table 2. Stages of the methodology for feasibility analysis, considering the implementation

The first step of this methodology is implemented by choosing an emerging technology, which is intended for study, followed by the choice of product for which the test of feasibility of applying this technology is intended. This is followed by the identification of the technologies used and in use in this product, so that one can establish the comparison and proceed with the remaining actions prescribed in the methodology. The collection of information on technologies makes up the second step, in which one should gather as much information as possible, including the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies that the product uses, and even has used as well as the available data on the emerging

vacuum cleaners, also depending on technology.

in a product consists of five steps (Table 2).

of an emerging technology in a product.

changes in products.

**product** 

technology. These enable drawing up a Table split between the advantages and disadvantages depending on the technology (view example in Table 3, developed for a specific technology – plasma, used on TVs). The third step consists in compiling the data that were considered relevant, after the drafting of the previous step, to create a Table containing the technologies selected in the first step, including the emerging technology (view example in Table 4 – developed for the vacuum cleaner and with the MEMS emerging technology in mind). Five general aspects considered important to the product (for which the study of the feasibility of applying the emerging technology is intended) and five specific issues which relate to factors that influence the product's performance are chosen. This Table is populated with a range of attributes ranging from acceptable, satisfactory, good, very good or excellent, to qualitatively describe the suitability of the technologies in the ten areas selected for comparison. The comparison of the data collected and the ranking of technologies in order of feasibility, comprise the fourth step of this methodology, which transforms the scale of words used in the previous step in a numerical scale ranging from one to five, where number one corresponds to acceptable and number five to excellent and the remaining values follow the order of the verbal scale.

Table 3. Advantages and disadvantages of the PDP (Plasma Display Panel) technology in TV sets.

The fifth step entails drawing up a matrix (an example of such is given in Table 5, concerning technologies pertaining to the clothes ironing product) which sums up the values assigned in the fourth step, which in turn had been assigned by matching words and numbers in step three. General aspects are added, which enables concluding which technology has greater suitability, according to these aspects. Finally, the results of general and specific features are summed up, and it is then estimated which is the technology that is more feasible to apply the product selected in general (of the two kinds of aspects, both general and specific).

Technology as a Determinant of Object Shape 11

Table 5. Classification of technologies in comparison, for the product clothes pressing iron. Tables 2 to 5 illustrate how the first methodology presented in this chapter unfolds; its first application demonstrated was to test the feasibility of application of OLED technology in televisions. It has proven very efficient and straightforward to conduct the entire process, as the abundance of data is large, which made it easier to collect relevant data, as well as performing the choice between specific and general issues for comparison between technologies. Another advantage, which allowed the development of this methodology, was that the emerging technology (OLED) has to be applied to the product concerned (TV) and as such values and considerations already existed and were already tested and proven for their practical implementation in the product. With regard to further application of this methodology in the case of the OLED technology within TVs, all the technologies selected for comparison are currently in use in this type of product, so this is not a product with a single dominant technology as is mostly the case for irons and vacuum cleaners. In the other two cases of deployment of this methodology, for EH and MEMS technology, the feasibility of implementing these procedures for the products iron and vacuum cleaner, respectively, was verified. Of particular importance was the fact that these technologies do not have widespread commercial application in the chosen products, and as such it became more difficult to collect data and make accurate analyses of the aspects in comparison between technologies. This was offset by the emergence of estimates and by basing the assessments on envisaged concepts developed for these two products with the incorporation of the emerging technologies. Another hardship found was that predecessors of the technologies used in the products iron and vacuum cleaner, are completely obsolete and are not used

It should be noted that this methodology is deemed suitable to application for most technologies, and serves the purposes of testing the feasibility of applying a particular technology within a product. It is a methodology that can be improved with the emergence of new data and of results of the application of emerging technology in the product focused.

The methodology for determining the causality of changes in technology, changes in the

**3.2 Determining causality in cases where technology changes the shape of the** 

Legend: \*- General characteristics, applicable to technology products

anymore, which also hampered the collection of some data.

external shape of the products, is composed of five steps (Table 6).

**product** 
