Socio-technical materials for prosthetic hands

该项目探索如何将工程设计、协作设计、材料文化、数字制造和服务设计相结合，以彻底改变个人对假体手中材料的选择。假肢是一个使用材料本质上是社会技术的行业：假手不仅是一种医疗设备或工具，而且是佩戴者身份的延伸。目前，假手的美学两极分化为“真实的”(或不可思议的)硅胶手套和类似机器人的手。许多截肢者认为，这两种选择都不符合他们自己的身体形象。我们关于以材料为主导的个性化制造方法的激进提议将提供由佩戴者选择的材料组合中的共同设计，从新的、不熟悉的材料到具有丰富文化联想和共鸣的日常材料。鉴于每种材料的选择可能意味着不同的制造工艺，我们将探索无障碍数字制造如何使这种包容性和赋权的假肢方法变得可行和负担得起。该项目的第二个补充目标是深入了解这一特定应用程序如何在整个数字制造中催化与材料的更复杂的社会技术接触。3D打印的普及可能会导致对可以直接打印的材料的依赖，实际上减少了我们与更丰富的材料文化的接触。目前，定制制作通常在规模、颜色和材料方面受到限制。提供更广泛的材料调色板意味着更广泛的服务，而不仅仅是单个的数字制造设施。这个项目将研究如何将数字制造设施网络结合在一起，以便在相同的设计中提供材料选择。我们相信，这一假手的案例研究将提供独特的视角，并激励其他部门定制包容性制造的创新方法。这个项目将展示所谓的利基应用如何在整个制造业中开启激进的新实践。这项研究将分五个工作阶段进行：‘参与式研讨会’，我们将通过与包括截肢者、假肢专家、材料科学家、设计师和其他制造商在内的不同参与者手牵手来探索材料；‘共同设计假肢’，在这个阶段，我们将与几个选定的截肢者合作，在他们选择的材料中设计具有代表性的假肢手原型；‘设计服务’，在这个阶段，我们将构思支持这种程度的选择所需的网络和服务，并原型用户对这种服务的体验；“超越假肢”，我们将采访其他利益相关者，并为更广泛的数字制造提取一套通用设计原则；“展览和传播”，我们将举办一个公开展览，展示包容性制造。输出将包括共同设计的材料手的集合、这些材料的公开展览、服务的原型用户体验、记录我们过程的编辑视频、针对数字制造部门的技术报告以及同行评审的材料科学和设计期刊(例如，材料与设计；设计杂志)上的文章。该项目将鼓励以更具创造性和参与性的方式进行设计，让用户作为合作伙伴参与新产品的创造。它还将通过引起对新材料的用户和设计驱动的需求的关注，影响研究议程，并在其他定制应用中促进设计主导的材料科学，从而影响材料科学、工程和制造业。

This project explores how engineering design, collaborative design, materials culture, digital fabrication and service design can be combined to revolutionise the personal selection of materials in prosthetic hands. Prosthetics is one industry in which the use of materials is inherently socio-technical: a prosthetic hand is not just a medical device or a tool, but an extension of its wearer's identity. Currently the aesthetics of prosthetic hands are polarised between 'realistic' (or uncanny) silicone gloves and cyborg-like robotic hands. Many amputees feel that neither of these alternatives fit their own body image. Our radical proposal for a materials-led approach to personalised manufacture would offer a common design in a combination of materials chosen by the wearer, ranging from new, unfamiliar materials to everyday materials that are rich in cultural associations and resonances. Given that each material choice may imply a different manufacturing process, we will explore how accessible digital fabrication could make this inclusive and empowering approach to prosthetics viable and affordable. The project's second, complementary aim is to gain an in-depth understanding of how this particular application might catalyse a more sophisticated socio-technical engagement with materials across digital fabrication as a whole. The uptake of 3D printing can lead to a reliance on materials that can be directly printed, actually reducing our engagement with a richer material culture. Bespoke fabrication is currently usually restricted in scale, colour and materials. Offering a wider palette of materials implies a wider service, beyond individual digital fabrication facilities. This project will examine how a network of digital fabrication facilities could be combined to afford a choice of materials within the same design. We believe this case study of prosthetic hands will grant unique perspectives and inspire innovative approaches to bespoke inclusive manufacturing in other sectors. This project will illustrate how supposedly niche applications can unlock radical new practices across manufacturing as a whole.The research will be carried out in five workstages:'Participatory workshops', in which we will explore materials by making hands with diverse participants, including amputees, prosthetists, material scientists, designers and other makers;'Co-designing prostheses', in which we will collaborate with a few chosen amputees to design representational prototypes of prosthetic hands in materials of their choosing;'Designing the service', in which we will conceive of the network and service that would be needed to support this degree of choice, and prototype the user's experience of such a service;'Looking beyond prosthetics', in which we interview further stakeholders and extract a set of generic design principles for wider digital manufacture;'Exhibition and dissemination', in which we will stage a public exhibition to illustrate inclusive manufacturing.Outputs will include a collection of co-designed material hands, a public exhibition of these, a prototyped user experience of the service, an edited video documenting our processes, a technical report aimed at the digital fabrication sector and articles in peer-reviewed materials science and design journals (e.g. Materials & Design; the Design Journal). This project will encourage a more creative, participatory approach to design, involving users as partners in the creation of new products. It will also influence the materials science, engineering and manufacturing communities by drawing attention to user and design-driven requirements for new materials, influencing research agendas and promoting design-led materials science in other bespoke applications.