The definition of play is to “engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose”, which requires an element of interaction.

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Giles Miller Studio are known for their innovative surfaces, which aim to create an experience. Miller’s surface designs encourage interaction with the viewer, they almost require this interaction to fulfil their function.  The studio team are constantly playing with materials to manipulate light, texture, and exploit material properties to extremes.  Miller created the ‘Miranda’ surface whilst studying at the RCA, which “consists of thousands of tiny plastic hairs that can be brushed in any direction.” The surface was inspired by patterns on football pitch turf, as the blades of grass get pushed in opposing directions when the turf is mowed. A statement from the Giles Miller website, describes ‘Miranda’ as “ever-adaptable and the temptation to touch is impossible to resist.” It is almost drawing, through touch. This type of free expression is unlike ‘play’ in the digital way, when games are already structured, and so taps into a creative quality. Creativity is a safe play known to inspire inventiveness, which in turn, helps towards problem solving. The freedom of the mind helps someone think outside the box and expands the mind, to give a different stance on problem solving and decision-making. This belief is seen to be exercised in the Google California Headquarters, being described to have a Lego play station, scooters, and workers being able to assemble their desks from oversized building toys.

Furthermore, the design not only counters a flat wall surface that most are used to, but the flatness of everyday life. Sally Angharad, curator of Future Thinking at the 2016 Surface Design Show stated that “texture is key, I will be looking for surfaces that address all the senses and encourage touch and feel as we look for more engagement with our surroundings.” This statement poses a question as to why there is a growing need for more engagement? The answer to this might be because of the growth of a digital presence in modern life. Screens are flat and smooth, and the human body requires tactility to feel fully alive.  In a 2012 conference, highly-regarded trend forecaster Li Edelkoort confirmed that “super technology is going to ask for super tactility” as screens play a bigger role in daily life. It makes us crave tangibility and pushes designers to engage in this requirement.

Because of the fast growth of a digital presence in everyday life, there is a strong need for the physical. Bauhaus textile artist Anni Albers wrote in her book ‘On Weaving’, “we touch things to assure ourselves of reality.” In an environment of increasing technological developments thrusting screens in every form into our lives, and the rise of virtual worlds blurring lines of materiality, tactile surfaces which encourage play seem almost a necessity.

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Although flat and smooth, the rise in sales of adult colouring books is demonstrating the need for play in modern life. Author of an ever-expanding and very popular colouring book series, Millie Marotta, stated that colouring brings a “nostalgia” to some, which is part of the appeal of this interaction. From a psychological point of view, colouring can be seen as a form of therapy.  Carl Jung was the first psychologist to address this in the early 20thCentury, and prescribed colouring books to his patients to relax their minds. Modern day psychologist Gloria Martinez Ayala explains the reasoning behind this: “the relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, a basic part of our brain involved in controlling emotion that is affected by stress.”