**1. Introduction**

In a globalized world, we are confronted everywhere with the encouragement to consumption, the purchase of goods and services. This is something characteristic of the consumer society in which we live, whether it is caused by consumption needs and their satisfaction or because saturation has already set in, or it may even be caused by social statement (Baudrillard 1995).

The intention of this chapter is to focus on the study of technology as a determinant of the shape of products that incorporate technology. The acceptance of a product by consumers, and how important the shape and look of it is to the success of the product, has been previously studied (Bloch 1995). Research has also been carried out to study the determinants of the shape of products (Crilly, Moultrie & Clarkson 2009), which shows that several aspects determine the final shape of a product. The form development process is driven by the designers' efforts to guide or constrain the way in which the product will be experienced, and the success of the final design may be determined by the degree of correspondence between designer intent and consumer response (Crilly, Moultrie & Clarkson 2009). This chapter does not intend to focus on all determinants of product shape and does not aspire to focus on the acceptance of a product on the market or to reflect on the role of the personal taste of the industrial designer in determining the shape of the product. The aim of this chapter is to study the influence of one aspect in particular, technology as a determinant of the form of products, for products that embed technology.

The study of materials and their development also fits this line of inquiry, since there is a synergy between the development of technology and of materials. This historical relationship, while not the main focus of this work, is also of interest and merits some comments. The advent of new materials and the development and improvement of others makes it possible to improve the application of new technologies and the consequent development of new products. Man, machine, materials and production are closely linked in modern industry and this link is becoming increasingly strong. Advanced materials are critical to many new technological applications, since the latter depend strongly on the advances of the former (i.e. the high-speed train, Maglev, is based on technology already developed and tested but its large-scale implementation awaits improvements in materials technology so that cryogenic preservation can be maintained economically, so that it may be possible to create the magnetic levitation and consequent propulsion of the vehicle).

Technology as a Determinant of Object Shape 5

3. Cessation of existence of the product as such, in situations where the change in technology leads to a deconstruction of the product as an object, leaving behind the

1. Changing the form in a visible way (but not the product as an object ceases to exist); 2. Changes in the product in situations in which technology changes in not reflected in changing the form of the product much but is responsible for modification of

performance (performance), keeping the existing product as an object;

archetypes and stereotypes in a way hitherto associated with the product.

Table 1. Operational Model of the Design Process (Lewis & Bonollo 2002, Hales 1991)

There is an important question that impinges on the future of the practice of industrial design – will there be objects that are at risk of deconstruction, to merge with the environment, in view of the technologies that are developed for the near future and that will replace the existing ones? The overall objective of the work (Corda 2010) reported in this chapter was to carry out a survey of the evolution of form, taking into account the technology of a selected range of consumer technology products in order to deconstruct archetypes that are fixed and propose new concepts, with particular regard to emerging

With the aim of enabling the widespread use of the methods utilized to answer the aforementioned question and meet the specific objectives underlying the goal of this study,

**2. Aims** 

technologies.

Mastering the state of the art in materials and technological solutions offers vast opportunities, due largely to a greater understanding and greater control of their basic characteristics. As such, new materials play an important role in the development of innovative technologies. For example, without knowledge of materials such as quartz crystal or piezoelectric ceramics, the production of energy that occurs with the deformation of these materials could not be put to use. Knowledge about materials catalyzes more technological knowledge. A recently created metallic material, with platinum-based nanopores, expands and contracts under the action of an electric current thereby converting electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice versa, depending on the state of the material. In conclusion, materials in general and bio-mimetic nano-materials in particular, form together with intelligent materials and organic polymers, among other materials, a wide range of examples of materials whose importance is recognized in the field of technology and product design.

The approach that is central to this chapter is bounded by the larger process of industrial design, where it gives a contribution that may take place at the stage of concept generation as well as the stage of detailed design. The bounding process of design that is considered is in line with the report of Lewis and Bonollo (2002). These authors performed an experimental investigation to unveil the design skills most influential to professional success, in order to have design education adequately train students in those skills. In order to structure their research, these authors harnessed a five stage operational process of design, based on selected literature of their choice (Hales 1991). This process is comprised of five sub-ordinate processes (Table 1).

Product development is part of any company's industrial innovation process (Roozenburg & Eekels 1995). Industrial innovation includes all activities preceding the launch of a new product into the marketplace, such as basic and applied research, design and development, market research, production, distribution and sales. The development of new technological possibilities has triggered the search for applications, which in many cases has led to the unveiling of new products. In such cases it is not uncommon that the design process instead of centring on the user and the potential market is driven by the search for technological applications.

In practice, technology influenced design may lead the way, in some cases, to a simplification of the design process depicted in Table 1, as little room is given to new concept generation, since the concept is determined by the application of technology to enable a particular functionality and as such, circumvents the search for new ideas, and promotes the continuation of a particular product archetype. Such archetype may well be tied to market requirements and perceived consumer acceptance, as well as to technological constraints and salient features that hamper shape alterations. What is proposed in this chapter is to study the influence of technology as a determinant of the final shape of a product that incorporates technology. This is intended to demonstrate how this is a key aspect for the possible deconstruction of product archetypes which have endured for many years. To this end, some new product concepts are presented that incorporate emerging technologies, reflecting a change of form, distinct from the existing hitherto.

This chapter seeks to demonstrate the influence of technology in the form of the product. It also seeks to unveil cases of product shape changes brought about from the influence of technology in three categories given below:

Mastering the state of the art in materials and technological solutions offers vast opportunities, due largely to a greater understanding and greater control of their basic characteristics. As such, new materials play an important role in the development of innovative technologies. For example, without knowledge of materials such as quartz crystal or piezoelectric ceramics, the production of energy that occurs with the deformation of these materials could not be put to use. Knowledge about materials catalyzes more technological knowledge. A recently created metallic material, with platinum-based nanopores, expands and contracts under the action of an electric current thereby converting electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice versa, depending on the state of the material. In conclusion, materials in general and bio-mimetic nano-materials in particular, form together with intelligent materials and organic polymers, among other materials, a wide range of examples of materials whose importance is recognized in the field of

The approach that is central to this chapter is bounded by the larger process of industrial design, where it gives a contribution that may take place at the stage of concept generation as well as the stage of detailed design. The bounding process of design that is considered is in line with the report of Lewis and Bonollo (2002). These authors performed an experimental investigation to unveil the design skills most influential to professional success, in order to have design education adequately train students in those skills. In order to structure their research, these authors harnessed a five stage operational process of design, based on selected literature of their choice (Hales 1991). This process is comprised of

Product development is part of any company's industrial innovation process (Roozenburg & Eekels 1995). Industrial innovation includes all activities preceding the launch of a new product into the marketplace, such as basic and applied research, design and development, market research, production, distribution and sales. The development of new technological possibilities has triggered the search for applications, which in many cases has led to the unveiling of new products. In such cases it is not uncommon that the design process instead of centring on the user and the potential market is driven by the search for technological

In practice, technology influenced design may lead the way, in some cases, to a simplification of the design process depicted in Table 1, as little room is given to new concept generation, since the concept is determined by the application of technology to enable a particular functionality and as such, circumvents the search for new ideas, and promotes the continuation of a particular product archetype. Such archetype may well be tied to market requirements and perceived consumer acceptance, as well as to technological constraints and salient features that hamper shape alterations. What is proposed in this chapter is to study the influence of technology as a determinant of the final shape of a product that incorporates technology. This is intended to demonstrate how this is a key aspect for the possible deconstruction of product archetypes which have endured for many years. To this end, some new product concepts are presented that incorporate emerging

This chapter seeks to demonstrate the influence of technology in the form of the product. It also seeks to unveil cases of product shape changes brought about from the influence of

technologies, reflecting a change of form, distinct from the existing hitherto.

technology and product design.

five sub-ordinate processes (Table 1).

technology in three categories given below:

applications.


Table 1. Operational Model of the Design Process (Lewis & Bonollo 2002, Hales 1991)
