What types of communication lie beyond our current era of screen dominance? Could the sense of touch ever become a viable alternative method of communication for the common person? How will communicating an idea become a different act when materials are dynamic?
These are some of the questions that led to researching Tactile Communication. Tactitle Communication can be described as ubiquitous forms of communication that occur primarily through the sense of touch.
The types of ideas that can be communicated through touch vary, but can be simple or complex, conscious or subconscious. As is evident with Braille, humans have the ability to comprehend complex ideas through the sense of touch. We are also adept at processing subtle sensory cues into information that assists in physical awareness; for example, our fingers are familiar with where buttons on a keyboard are located in relationship to nubs found on the "F" an "J" keys.
At present, our most versatile technological devices are primarily screen-based. Most visions of the future depict an environment of screen-saturation, where almost any surface is a flat touch screen. What alternatives are there for the future and what lies beyond the era of screen dominance?
Humans are built for the physical world. Our minds and bodies are trained to be sensitive to and perform in environments full of diverse tactile interactions.
An environment of Tactile Communication is one possibility for Designers and Engineers to consider when designing interactions. Tactile Communication encompasses haptics as well as systems for communicating messages through textures and the sense of touch.
When designing with Tactile Communication in mind, the sense of touch is considered as the dominant or supportive method of interacting with the device or interface. For example, ComTouch, a project by the MIT Media Lab, is a walkie-talkie that "augments remote voice communication with touch, by converting hand pressure into vibrational intensity between users in real-time.
Tactile Communication can be applied in even more extreme designs such as the Dermatext Bracelets. The Dermatext Bracelets are an example of a device that uses a touch-based codex or touch-based language that allows for communicating ideas without audio or visual input.
Envisioning a future of Tactile Communication opens new possibilities for exploring how touch can be implemented in interaction design. It encourages seeking alternatives to the screen-saturated vision of the future——a future in which the physical expertise of the body is used to it's potential.
