Multisensory objects’ role on creativity

In this research, we investigated the role of multisensorial manipulation on creativity, and the influence of inspirational objects on creative outcomes. Object manipulation may support embodied cognition during a generative creative phase (emergence of motor, spatial, emotional ideas, etc.) then exploratory phase (creative fixation, development of a functional creation, etc.). Our protocol involved 136 engineering students divided into 34 groups which were provided with inspirational cubes illustrating manufacturing inventive principles or basic volumes from the Creative Mental Synthesis Task. They could manipulate these objects either in a visuo-haptic condition, or in a visuo-imaginative condition. Our results highlighted a main effect of manipulation, showing that visual-haptic condition led to higher creativity than visual-imaginative condition. We also observed several effects in favor of inspirational cubes with regard to basic volumes: significantly higher creativity, more subjective and inter-subjective facilitation behaviors, more cognitive and emotional operations. Participants also showed at an individual level a better mobilization of the multisensorial senses. Creative thinking may be stimulated when an active manipulation phase is set up before the creative production. This could contribute to improving practice for engineers, particularly for using additive manufacturing and/or during their training at school.