
The Textural Learning tool is a device for educating users in tactile communication. The device represents a future in which textural languages are ubiquitous.
According to Saussure's linguistic model, a word is simply a sound or symbol that represents an object or idea. Likewise, when observed, an object can evoke a corresponding word in the mind one's mind.
The Textural Learning tool builds off of Saussure's model by testing whether people can make similar connections between textures and ideas. If these connections are consistently made, a person can learn a new form of language based on mind maps.
In a way, the learning tool is a fictional artifact from a speculated future. It serves as a useful tool for thinking about possibilities for the design of texture and touch-based interfaces.

1. Memory and Touch: an exploration of textural communication, UCA: University for the Creative Arts.
2. The Body Has a Mind of Its Own, Blakeslee and Blakeslee
3. Hands-on Haptics: Exploring Non-Visual Visualization Using The Sense of Touch, Wall and Brewster
4. A Course in General Linguistics, Saussure