MATERIAL MEMORY
The screen shows how fabric looks.
Not how it feels.
[ PERCEPTION LAYER ]
Role Lead Designer & Engineer
Type Solo project
Stack Three.js · WebGL · GLSL Shaders · Verlet integration
Skills Physics simulation · Haptic semantics · E-commerce UX · Cultural research
impact
Luxury apparel return rate: up to 50% online ·
Haptic semantics as next conversion frontier ·
Dwell time and return rate impact TBD
Big Ideas,
User Story
Leila · Dubai · 31
Returned an $1,800 cashmere sweater.
Reason: "It didn't have the weight I imagined."
She didn't return a sweater.
She returned a disappointment.
Observation
Cashmere and silk can look identical on screen.
But one holds creases like memory.
The other forgets immediately.
No existing e-commerce interface communicates this.
Reframe
How to make products look more real
→ How to make a fabric's physical character perceptible
Solution
HAPTIC SEMANTICS
Four materials. Four memory behaviors.
Each simulated with Verlet integration physics.
MEMORY MAP
Every interaction leaves a trace.
CULTURAL ARCHIVE
Each material carries a history before it was fashion.
SILK yields easily · recovers softly · forgets immediately
LINEN holds creases like memory · records its day
DENIM slow to deform · slow to forget · resistance engineered
POLYESTER no memory · no past · springs back with synthetic gloss
Silk · Han Dynasty · 200 BC · softness as power.
Linen · Mediterranean · 3000 BC · worn by laborers and priests.
Denim · California · 1873 · resistance engineered, not designed.
Polyester · 1941 · the first fabric with no cultural origin.
Build Status
✓ Verlet integration physics stable on mobile
✓ Four material parameters perceptibly distinct
✓ Cultural origin overlay implemented
○ Effect of material simulation on page dwell time
○ "Material mismatch" return rate change
— E-commerce platform dwell time as benchmark dataset