著者

栄久庵 祥二

出版者

日本大学

雑誌

日本大学芸術学部紀要 (ISSN:03855910)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.42, pp.49-54, 2005

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There are two kinds of effect which tools have, the one being 'sociopetal' and the other 'sociofugal'. The former refers to the effect of tools that pull people together thus encouraging face to face interpersonal communication, while the latter is the effect that puts them apart, independent or isolated. The traditional Japanese heating equipments such as KOTATSU and HIBACHI play sociopetal role, and so does the well in the context of neighboring engaged in by housewives. Today, in general, sociofugal effect as played by mobile tools dominates over sociopetal one due to the nature of tools, technological development and people's value in our affluent society. Even so, desire for face to face communication among people persists strenuously. In this situation, there seems to be something to do on the part of designers.