Design Researchers at The Royal College of Art invite you to join a 1-day symposium exploring the concept of affect and the role of emotion and materiality within design and making. The day will feature speakers from University of Portsmouth, Queen Mary University of London and researchers at RCA. All welcome!

Supported by RCA Design Research Department and RCA Sentimental Machines Society

09.30- Tea and Coffee served

10am Welcome

10.15-10.45 ‘Postdigital Affects’ keynote by Dr Elaine Igoe (University of Portsmouth )

Elaine will deliver an introduction with a focus on the collaboration of the New Aesthetic which deals with the politics of image and New Materialism, concerned with the politics and subjectivity of matter, and how they play out in the affect of postdigital textiles and materials.

10.45-11.00- 'Reference Earth on Mars'* with Shalini Sahoo
Attendees are invited to share and discuss brought objects/images Pecha Kucha style. Please bring something you can carry and can tell the group in 30 seconds what it means to you :-)

11.00- 11.30 Making Emotional Materiality with researcher-maker Jules Findley

11.30-11.45 Reference Earth on Mars'* with Shalini Sahoo (Part 2)
Attendees are invited to share and discuss brought objects/images Pecha Kucha style. Please bring something you can carry and can tell the group in 30 seconds what it means to you :-)

11.45-12.45 ‘Measuring Affect’ panel discussion
How has affect been measured? How should affect be measured? Should affect be measured? with cognitive scientists / HCI researchers and E-Textiles explorers Pat Healey, Becky Stewart and Sophie Skach (Queen Mary University of London) moderated by Caroline Zhang (RCA)

12.45-1 Questions Elaine and Jules will join the panel for questions from the floor

*Attendees to prepare

Shalini will run an interactive session during the morning ‘Referencing Earth on Mars, understanding material, objects and their affects’. You are going to be sent to Mars, please bring with you one object which means home to you. You won’t have your favourite plant, there won't be any animals, what is it you treasure? Please bring something you can carry and can tell the group in 30 seconds what it means to you :-)

#RCAffect