Guest post, by Helge Wurdemann, Associate Professor of Robotics, UCL Mechanical Engineering [helge-wurdemann.com, softhaptics.website, @H_Wurdemann, YouTube] As a roboticist, one of my research interests covers the creation of interfaces that allow humans to interact with something or somebody through receiving tactile stimuli – these systems are called haptic feedback interfaces. One prominent example includes the… Continue reading Soft, Simple, Sens-ational: creating body-powered prostheses with feeling
Category: Sensory
Media tales of touch during Covid
By InTouch Over the life of the InTouch project (starting in 2016) we have kept our feelers out for when touch hits the news headlines. While each year touch has had always had some exposure in the news, headlines have been infrequent and usually promoted by a study or incidence, for example: How often you… Continue reading Media tales of touch during Covid
A visual and tactile graphic design experiment: ‘Touch Project’
Guest post, by Parinda Sakdanaraseth Figure 1: A tactile-visual re-imagining of ‘Wallpaper’ magazine. Image credit: Parinda Sakdanaraseth. I am fascinated by the sense of touch. With my background in Graphic Design, I feel a joy in using the little power I have to experiment and play with different kinds of paper to create rich textures… Continue reading A visual and tactile graphic design experiment: ‘Touch Project’
Sex, Robots and Touch
Dr Ned Barker, of In-Touch, interviews Dr Kate Devlin on the present and future of how sex robots might come to touch our bodies, lives, and society, and the social and ethical issues that arise. NB: In Turned On: Science Sex and Robots you described yourself as a “pro sex feminist with radical leanings”. How… Continue reading Sex, Robots and Touch
Synesthesia X1 – 2.44: The dream of individualised synaesthetic experiences
Guest post, by Dr Feng Zhu This blog post refers to the Synesthesia X1 – 2.44 device, a work by Tetsuya Mizuguchi (an iconic figure in computer games [1]) to consider how artistic visions of individualised synaesthetic experiences are shaped by, and could also be outside of, the logic of individual consumption and self-perfection. Figure… Continue reading Synesthesia X1 – 2.44: The dream of individualised synaesthetic experiences
Digital Documentation in Early Years Education: Tactile Losses and Gains
Guest post, by Kate Cowan (@katecowan) Documentation of children’s play is an important part of early years practice that helps educators to make sense of children’s interests and interactions, informing planning, pedagogy and assessment. This practice is currently undergoing significant change as paper-based scrapbooks (consisting of written notes, photographs, paintings, collages etc.) are increasingly being… Continue reading Digital Documentation in Early Years Education: Tactile Losses and Gains
PLEASE [DO NOT] TOUCH – An Exhibition by Inês Norton
Guest Post, by Emília Ferreira and Inês Norton https://vimeo.com/360572208 Film 'PLEASE [DO NOT] TOUCH', by Jungler We have long known that knowledge depends on the senses. We are now, however, experiencing a global fascination with the digital, which interposes between our perception and reality, and we argue, is replacing direct contact with the world. What… Continue reading PLEASE [DO NOT] TOUCH – An Exhibition by Inês Norton
Technologies are reshaping surgical touch
Guest post, by Dr Jeff Bezemer @jeffbezemer Surgeons, like all doctors, frequently palpate (from Latin palpare, ‘to stroke’ or ‘caress’), i.e. they examine the patient’s body by touch. Their touch is typically somewhat invasive in that they manipulate parts of the body with their hands to feel for specific formations inside the body. Outside the… Continue reading Technologies are reshaping surgical touch
Touch-in’ the Virtual: Reflections
By Dr Nikoleta Giannoutsou, In-Touch Our June “Touch-in’ the Virtual” workshop aimed to explore the conceptualisation and experience of ‘touch’ in virtual environments with a diverse group of academics and industry practitioners. These participants came from a wide range of domains, including VR, game design, fashion, sociology, engineering and philosophy. The event, held at the… Continue reading Touch-in’ the Virtual: Reflections
Reconnecting through haptic footwear to minimise loneliness
Guest post, by Emilie B. Cohrt, Designer & Founder of Studio Cohrt, WORTH(COSME) Partnership Project ‘Øjenfryd’, MA Footwear London College of Fashion. https://vimeo.com/266167156 Fig 1. Film, Project Re:Connect, by Emilie B. Cohrt. Project Re:Connect and the Footsie slippers were the end product of my MA Footwear degree conducted at the London College of Fashion. Within a… Continue reading Reconnecting through haptic footwear to minimise loneliness
