The emotional response from turning a high quality volume knob or watching a soft-shut drawer close

[Roowilliams]

Hello all,

I'm in the beginning stages of my final self-initiated project at uni
(Product Design @ CSM) currently investigating emotional responses to
'beautiful' mechanisms. As of now I am trying to gather examples of
this phenomenon and so far I have:

High quality volume knob
Soft-shut drawer (the kind you get in kitchens that have dampeners on
them)
Quality car doors
Vertu phones - 'the perfect click' of their mechanical buttons
Watching machines at work

I'd be grateful if anyone could think of some examples to add to this
list. I'd be even more grateful if you could take a shot at explaining
why they make you feel the way you do, and indeed, how they make you
feel!

Look forward to your answers

Best

- Roo

[Tim Hutt]

These are pretty good. Maybe not what you are looking for though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMrkSzVqhQY

[Adrian Godwin]

Clipping LEGO bricks together

[Adrian Godwin]

The movement of the mirror and shutter in an SLR

[Adrian Godwin]

Cutting stuff:

A guillotine cutting paper
A kitchen knife chopping vegetables
A chef's knife cutting meat
A plane working on wood

[Yuan]

This isn't so much of an "beautiful mechanism", but the first time
that the LED on a microcontroller flashes, signifying that your code
worked. It is a moment of release and relief. And the reason is
clear - it follows perhaps hours of build up: of debugging, trying to
get things to work, looking up error messages, there are so many
stages that can go wrong getting a piece of code onto a
microcontroller - the compiler, the IDE, the syntax of the code
itself, checksumming the firmware, loading the firmware, the hardware
of the microcontroller and LED, the power supplies, and more.

If there is a moment that a simple LED looked so beautiful as it sits
there flashing, it is at that very moment. At that moment, every
programmer pats themselves on the back, sighs, and then closes a bunch
of browser windows relating to troubleshooting the code/hardware, and
moves onto what they actually set out to do (which often takes less
time than getting the LED to flash for the first time).

[Steff]

Having just taken a couple of mil off the steerer of my new bike I've
been reminded of just how satisfying filing steel is.

S

[Adrian Godwin]

On Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 8:02 PM, Steff <st...@steff.name> wrote:
>
> Having just taken a couple of mil off the steerer of my new bike I've
> been reminded of just how satisfying filing steel is.
>

Oooh, good point. Lots of nice bits on a quality bike, the derailleur
and the freewheel especially.

[Steff]

On 10 October 2011 20:07, Adrian Godwin <artg...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Oooh, good point. Lots of nice bits on a quality bike, the derailleur
> and the freewheel especially.

I think the single most satisfying bike component I've come across* is
the Royce** track hub I got for one of my bikes. A thing of great
beaty (the Campag track hubs are nice too).

S

*not quite literally, but it was a close run thing.
** http://www.genisysconsulting.co.uk/royce-uk/

[Roowilliams]

Have you seen the internal hubs where the spokes actually come out of
holes in the hub? http://www.fatbmx.com/uploads3/2008/wk23/kheastralhub.jpg
I have one on my BMX but i think they do them for road bikes also.

Thanks guys there's some good ones there, Adrian, SLR shutter release
is a nice one!

On Oct 10, 8:13 pm, Steff <st...@steff.name> wrote:

[Steff]

On 10 October 2011 20:38, Roowilliams <roowi...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> Have you seen the internal hubs where the spokes actually come out of
> holes in the hub? http://www.fatbmx.com/uploads3/2008/wk23/kheastralhub.jpg
> I have one on my BMX but i think they do them for road bikes also.

I haven't seen those specific ones, but I've seen some factory road
wheels that work the same way.

I think Lightweight are the current tech leaders in road wheels -
carbon everything including spokes:
http://s.wiggle.co.uk/images/lightweight-tech-spoke.jpg

S

[Adrian Godwin]

Hard to stop now i've started ..

IBM Model M keyboard
Sewing machine
Key turning in a lock
HP calculator keys, circa 1980 (eg the financier's favourite HP12C)
Focus / zoom mechanism on a good microscope or lens

[Roowilliams]

Wow! I can't say I like the look of that though

On Oct 10, 8:50 pm, Steff <st...@steff.name> wrote:

> On 10 October 2011 20:38, Roowilliams <roowilli...@googlemail.com> wrote:
>
> > Have you seen the internal hubs where the spokes actually come out of

> > holes in the hub?http://www.fatbmx.com/uploads3/2008/wk23/kheastralhub.jpg

[Adrian Godwin]

Never thought of carbon spokes but it sounds a wonderful material for
it, being good in tension.

[M]

A well adjusted cross-fader for Hip Hop style scratching, nice cut in
without lag and a buttery smooth glide. Awesome.

--
>
++++++++++[>+>+++>++
+++++>++++++++++<<<<
-]>>>+++++++.>++++++
+++++.+++..---------
.++++++++++.<<+++.<.

[cepm...@yahoo.co.uk]

The smooth, springy feel of the bolt closing in the breech of a well
adjusted Parker Hale L81A1.

--
" et cognoscetis veritatem et veritas liberabit vos. "

[Andy "Bob" Brockhurst]

On 11/10/2011 08:41, cepm...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> The smooth, springy feel of the bolt closing in the breech of a well
> adjusted Parker Hale L81A1.

Ha ha ha, +1 on that.

I must say that several of my rifles do have a particularly satisfying
action, not in part due to the craftsmanship of my gunsmith.
I have often drooled over his workshop lathes.

He also employed the Park Hale armourer when then went bust and picked
up all their remaining stock. I think this has done him quite well as
the MOD have to go to him for parts for a lot of their ageing inventory.

Bob
--
a.k.a b3cft/Andy
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy "Bob" Brockhurst mailto:andy.br...@b3cft.com
[mob] +44 (0)7790 499034 [twitter] b3cft
http://kingkludge.net/ [yahoo] abrockhurst2000
[skype] andybrockhurst
=====================================================================

[Mike]

On Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 08:41:17AM +0100, cepm...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> The smooth, springy feel of the bolt closing in the breech of a well
> adjusted Parker Hale L81A1.
>

You actually got to fire one of those? In my day they had a sort of
mythical status. Many had heard of them, few had seen them and even
fewer had actually fired one!

Mike.

[SheraDreaming]

Inviting serious flaming here I'm sure but the wireless apple
keyboard. In fact arguably most recent things apple could be said to
have some of this, which is one reason they are so popular...but the
keyboard is the only one that stands out particularly to me. Simple
and well-balanced aesthetically, low-profile, minimalist, quiet.

This is similar to the feeling you get when your perfectly bowled bowl
knocks down every bowling pin from the front and center one on back.
Something so "aaah" about that moment, like everything is in control
and perfect in the world. I guess it might be the appeal in dominos
and other things too.

Is one of the reasons people put paintings on their walls (at least
some kinds of paintings) to capture this feeling of utter peace,
safety, control?

[cepm...@yahoo.co.uk]

I used to fire it quite a lot .... Without a doubt the most accurate
weapon I have ever fired and an absolute joy to handle. Not as much fun as
the SLR though, 20 rounds rapid with one of those is an experience not
easily forgotten :)

[Mark Steward]

Serious thread necromancy, but I've just been directed to http://www.knobfeel.co.uk/

SFW (without audio).

Mark

[Adrian Godwin]

But he's reviewing such poor knobs !

Should try a weighted / flywheel tuning drive for real quality.

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[Jamie Boyle]

+1 for amp knobs. Mine's a Sherwood. Super smooth with no click, rubbing noise or anything that makes you feel it's not perfectly precise. Just enough friction that it moves easily, but doesn't keep moving when you let go.

Long term desire to replicate it for a computer volume wheel. I always change the volume on the amp rather than the computer because it's so satisfying compared to a cheap clunky mouse scroll wheel.

[Adrian Godwin]

Try one of these :

http://store.griffintechnology.com/powermate-1

[cepm...@yahoo.co.uk]

Pioneer used to make some superb examples.

Phil

--
" et cognoscetis veritatem et veritas liberabit vos. "

On Fri, 22 Feb 2013 22:54:03 -0000, Adrian Godwin <artg...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Jamie Boyle]

@artg thanks for the link.  Pretty tempted - my hacker instinct says I should roll my own, but for £25....

I used to use these at work http://www.3dconnexion.com/ with some 3D software I developed (CSM probably has one somewhere).  They're weighty, solid, don't slip on the table and have a smooth and surprisingly sensitive response.  I also like that slightly rubbery matte black coating they and some mobile phones have - smooth, grippy and somehow soft.  They're also an interesting case with respect to price vs volume trade offs - they experimented charging ~£160, then raised it back to close something like £280 when I assume they didn't get enough increase in volume for the SpaceExplorer.  I still really want a SpacePilot Pro for its gratuitousness.

If I could also suggest a counter example: touch screen phones (once you've got beyond the fun of swiping from side to side).

[Adrian Godwin]

Powermate knob is actually really nice. One of the few computer peripherals that doesn't disappoint. There's also a limited edition black one that gets snapped up on ebay.

--

[Martin Klang]

The monome arc [1] is meant to be very nice, and it should be at the price.
Not tried it myself.

[1] http://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/new-monome-arc-controller-knobs-only-359846

[Jamie Boyle]

$500 yikes!  It does look gorgeous though.

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[Paul Dart]

Holy thread bump batman!

http://knobfeel.tumblr.com/

[invent_or]

(Old thread, wasn't it?)

Pretty much any bolt action rifle evokes that same response as the Parker Hale bolt. Indeed, any rifle action at all! Try a nice underlever carbine... The Winchesters or a Marlin 1894.

As for stereo gear, the Denon amps have (had?) a wonderful "Just right" to them.

The favourite for me is probably as you pop the last spool in a 'cheap' padlock, as it pops open with a satisfying "clunk"...  For feel, try dialing a Chubb Manifoil safe lock. Again, a wonderful thing.

N