The meaning of ‘touch’
The dictionary meaning of touch would be something like to be in contact with or to ‘feel’. How will this definition change now? As we live in this world where it might be difficult to shake hands effortlessly and everything you shake hands with a person, you will unconsciously wait till you can wash your hands. Is this what a post pandemic life will be looked as? But what is post pandemic anyway, its been 7 months and the problem is not even close to its finish line. However I am digressing from the topic of this blog.
Coming back to what and how will the meaning touch be realised in the modern day now?
Why is it important to have tangible things for humans to be felt and touched. How textiles play a major role here?
In Gibson’s account, therefore, energy flows into bodies from the environment and energy flows out from our bodies into the environment, such that it is impossible to understand the body without considering the environment
A persons haptic system is different than their visual system. A person when in a particular environment has the ability to alter it and make changes to it, whereas in a visual system, a sense of touch is missing, which also results in a very linear mode of perception. Here, when we introduce something tangible, something that people can feel it make it more and more individualistic as an experience. The individual has a sense of altering the environment. He/she is the key player, whereas in a meagre visual system he/she are meagre spectators. Can they alter what they see? Perhaps no.
“If emotions are merely private, interior, subjective responses then they tell us nothing objective about our world. Once we see that emotions exist precisely because of the ways they are connected to our shared world and permit us to function within it, then it becomes possible to recognise their crucial role in our communal well-being.” In my journey of researching for my grad project, there was a major revelation in the school of thought I was progressing with. Only halfway through the journey did I realise that my approach towards design was to target the emotive qualities behind an object. In the start it was quite wholesome to know that famous designers like Don Norman have written multiple books on these subject and there is a plethora of knowledge out there that needs to be discovered. What I have read by far or worked on is maybe as minuscule as the virus in the world currently! However, the minuscule virus had the potential to change the world!
Overall wellbeing. Adults require human touch to thrive. "In recent years, a wave of studies has documented some incredible emotional and physical health benefits that come from touch. This research is suggesting that touch is truly fundamental to human communication, bonding, and health."
When we try and understand the tangible aspects, it is important to not forget the other senses that are linked with it too. Touch is not just a meagre touch, it is a way pf communicating information. When I touch a cloth, I know it is soft, I know it is warm, I perhaps know the material as well. When I touch a human being through a handshake I can tell by the firmness the kind of being I am talking to. I can tell a workers hands or a beauticians hand. Touch is a way of communication. Touch not just in its tactile sense but comes with smell too. Visual worlds and augmented realities have missed this part as of now, but I will not be surprised if they ace this arena as well.
A question one must ponder on, how can a reader describe his expirience of reading on a digital platform v/s reading an actual tangible book be?











