Tactile calming panel Knibini by Pēteris Cukurs. Publicity photo

After completing his studies at the Art Academy of Latvia (AAL) Product Design BA programme, Pēteris Cukurs created a tactile panel called Knibini for stress relief. It helps the user break out of the seemingly endless cycle of worry through a sensory experience.

Stories Editorial July 9, 2024

«I deal with a lot of stress in my daily life. I am constantly in situations where I feel nervous and I find that I am spinning in a wheel of stress. So for my bachelor thesis, I wanted to find a solution to overcome this feeling through product design,» explains Pēteris Cukurs. His design is based on the idea that to escape the seemingly endless cycle of stress, people need to feel that they are «here and now». «When I was researching information about how people regain mental stability, I learned that the sense of touch has a big influence on how the calming mechanisms work. I realised that any mental strain has to be balanced with input from different senses, which works best with the sense of touch.»

Kbibini is a tactile calming panel that incorporates moving rods that interact with the user to provide sensory stimulation that can help break the stress cycle. As the designer wanted to emphasise the user experience rather than the product, he experimented mainly with different textures rather than product typologies when developing the idea. The Knibini wall panel is a modular solution that allows the project to be adapted to different spaces and possibilities. By covering the wall with panels, a person can enjoy the tactile experience with their whole body. The product is designed for use in work and study environments, places where people are most often exposed to stressful situations. The panels are embedded with 70 mm long rods that follow the movement of the user’s body and change direction. This way, the user also leaves their own imprint on the panel as they enjoy the tactile experience.

 

The supervisor of Pēteris’ bachelor thesis at the Art Academy of Latvia is designer Sarmīte Poļakova. You can see other projects by Design Department students until July 14 at the Design Days exhibition in the main building of AAL, as well as in the exhibition’s virtual catalogue.