CLOSE READING – MAY I TOUCH IT

CLOSE READING – MAY I TOUCH IT 

Marilyn Delong, Juanjuan Wu & Mingxin Bao 

NOTES  

• Beginnings of including the idea of physical touch of materials and textiles within the studies of design and communication/products.  
• Studies come from a design and cultural view. – Design studies from China and the US share their stories and experiences of early touch memories. Responses come from simple word descriptions. 
• “Keywords: touch, tactile, sense, sensation, sentiment, design, textile, culture” 
• Tactile response/emotions/feelings in response to touching fabrics = truly little research 
• Pink (2006) = views are that designers need to draw in on both left brained activity and right brained activity – not ideal to neglect one as they work in conjunction together and one can experience things that the other could neglect – therefore affecting feelings/thoughts and could make someone miss a key part of a design / response to a design. – This is such an intersting concept as a desifgner, I had not given this idea much thought as I am usually much more in tune with thecreative side of my brain, however researching into the other side / what could stimulate the other side of the brain and if there would be a way to incirpparye that within my design work could form a more diverse and intersting stimulating outcome. 
• “The future belongs to those who can create using big-picture capabilities and integrative aptitudes of “high concept” and “high touch.” 
• “high concept” – meaning understanding patterns, new ideas, conceptual work, emotion, aesthetics and beauty 
• “high touch” – meaning understanding the human brain, interactions with senses, finding joy, communication between one person to the other through any form, purpose, meaning and reactions. 
• To summaries the above points – he states the importance of being to create something as a designer that has multiple functions in terms of emotive responses and practicality.  “sensorially and emotionally engaging”. I agree with this statement to some level, purely because I believe that if a designer creates something that also has some sort of either emotional reaction from the audience or a clear indicator that the product/service/design was created with a lot of thoughts, feelings and an emotional attachment from the designer themselves, this creates more of an attachment and resonates with the consumer far more than something simply works well. 
• “The twenty-first century designer must have specific sensory understanding of colors, textures, lines and shapes, and then find a way to involve that information in the emotional and cultural experiences of the user.” 
• “may learn to listen to colors, see a sound, or feel a space, and such sensory connections encourage artistic creation” = engaging in different senses creates an artistic reaction as it forces the brain to engage the body in diverse ways that usually just looking at something whereas if different textures 
• That are unfamiliar with the brain but connect to the design are incorporated, then the brain can draw in on different emotive responses such as remembering s=certain textures from a particular moment in time or even feeling these textures for the first time and creating a new association based off that in relation to the design/ artistic piece they are engaging with. 
• “a sensory experience such as touch is often learned in combination with another sense.” 
• “Touch frequently verifies another sense or past association.” – similar to what I explained earlier, touch is a sensation that is used less frequently within art but could create a more unique response from the audience as it can connect them with a feeling or memory from the past that would have potentially been overlooked/forgotten about within the sensation of touch 
• “Certain visual experiences encourage a person to substantiate visual with touch sensations, but in the West we have often been taught to ask permission: “May I touch it,” before reaching out to touch something.” – whereas with sight, it is a sensation that the majority of us are blessed with and cannot escape as it is often we have our eyes open than closed and witness things without asking as they happen right in front of us 
• “Comprehending the sense of touch involves aesthetics, defined by Tuan (1995) as the pervasive role of sensitive perception and shaped feeling” – people interpret their senses in different ways. As one person touches something, they could uncover a memory associated with that feeling, whereas a different person doesn’t have that memory and they could either feeling something else connected to that sensation or simply disregard it as that texture would have no prior meaning to them, and they could therefore associate that texture with a new feeling. 
• Understanding touch = understanding aesthetics 
• “what we value is a result of what we perceive; what we learn to perceive is what we value.” 
• Brain registering sensory input consciously  
• In order to incorporate sensory feelings in a tactile sense successfully means that the designer in question would need to understand their own sensory responses which are personal to them, then they can relay that through their own design for people to gather their own feelings from it or attempt to experience what the designer was feeling. 
• Street and Lewis (2001: 185) believe the role of design = “create meaning, but rather to render meaning apparent.” This quote really resonates with me as it brings a different understanding to why people deign other than practicality – an emotive response for the design to resonate with the consumer is always more beneficial and effective then something dimply made to function, which was stated in one of the quotes above. 
• “The need for designers to use their imaginative skills in the creation of “theaters of memory” has been an important aspect of bringing a significant cultural role into design” 
• “The Disneyland phenomenon is an example of recreating the “real” out of the “imaginary.” –  This is interesting for me think about as Disney films and the culture surrounding that thrives off of the imaginary fairytale aesthetics and made-up stories, yet when this is translated into a physical place, the feelings are brought to life through the use of touch and sensory applications through the place to connect the audience with the make-believe feelings that are found within the films. 
• “The advent of the world wide web enabled huge numbers of people to access a range of simulated experiences either in two dimensions or in virtual space.” Another interesting point which I briefly explored while researching into online exhibitions and hoe the use of the internet allows people to experience a similar feeling to being inside a space while online instead, therefore creating a virtual reality through the use of technology which allows senses that would normally be experienced in real life through pixels on the screen to create a similar affect, but essentially a different feeling than if someone were to be in the physical space. However, this allows design works and spaces to become more accessible to the viewers, they can access whenever they want instead of going into a physical space as well as people with physical disabilities being able to experience something, they usually would not be able to due to physical implications. 
• “Thackara (2006) describes the future of design using a different language than the customary design elements and principles; he describes design objectives more holistically, as lightness, situation, flow and literacy” – This quote relates back to the idea of design needed to engage both sides of the brain, creativity and academically in order to create an outcome that resonates. 
• “Sparke uses the term “lightness” to describe how furnishing materials of the twentieth century became modern when, for example, chintz replaced heavy velvets and brocades” 
• “Thackara states the future is collaborative and interactive, using text, sound, image, and virtual touch to provoke a critical response.” – This quote relates to me as I have always enjoyed engaging with physical installations as art pieces more than other types of exhibitions (which I still love) however an installation engages more sensory aspects than other types of exhibitions and therefore kore of my brain is working to associate distinct types of sensory actions with what I am engaging with and therefore has more of an impact in different part of my brain, therefore resonating with me further than other exhibitions. = “One designer describes the power of touching something as an internal body sensation that provides a subjective dimension: “If you’re only looking at something, you’re not aware of that sensation, but if you pick up an apple, you meet the flesh of the apple with your own flesh, and that feedback literally creates a sense of yourself” – explains my opinions well 
• Can cause memories and feelings to be associate with the touch of doing everyday tasks and therefore allowing the sensory design to have an everyday impact on your brain, making it harder to forget 

Review of Literature – The Imperative of the Sensation of Touch 

• “The skin does not exist merely to give the body an appearance. It is also a vital, humming source of ceaseless information about our environment.” – purpose for the sensation of touch – protection, covering up, pain, comfort – skin having a million different tiny transmitters to feel a broad range of physical sensations that relay back to the brain and create an emotive response. Such as something painful pricking our skin which hurts us physically, and therefore senses transmissions to our brain to make us either feel angry in frustration, such as banging a toe, or sadness and upset from doing something such as falling over when you’re a child. 
• ^^ “If the sensation of touch were not pleasurable, a mother would not stroke and fondle her baby in the right way. Severely disturbed children need forceful and persistent touching. An autistic child needs almost constant touching and rubbing to trigger a release from self-hugging isolation (Brand and Yancey 1980).” 
• Ove languages being physical touch, showing affection and caring through skin-on-skin contact such as holding hands creating a positive and loving impact on the brain, like animals licking their young, “He concludes that the licking is not for cleanliness but for essential tactile stimulation.” mother holding baby etc. 
• “Infant mortality rates drop when simple touching is adequate (Brand and Yancey 1980).” 
• “Leprosy is a classic case of insensitivity to touch and even failure to perceive pain. In leprosy, there is no touch sensation, so when a person grasps and holds an object there is no feedback” – “Without feedback, abuse to the body goes unrecognized.” these two quotes could lead to emotional numbness in conjunction to physical numbness in response to complex trauma or physical conditions 
• Touching something on purpose = brain evaluates it – smooth, silky, cool, hot, rough 
• “We experience twinges from abrasion, irritation, prickling, bruising, scratching, kissing and nudging” 
• Low level touch = background, high level touch = direct emotion.  
• Context influences touch sensations, who shakes your hand, kisses your cheek etc. = unconsented touch = bad emotive response, desired physical touch = positive/nervous/relaxing sense of emotions 
• Phrases and sayings relating to the physical sensation of touch but in a metaphorical sense such as “We rub people the wrong way, or we stroke them; a gullible person is a soft touch; something volatile we handle with kid gloves. We are thin-skinned, thick-skinned, or we get under each other’s skins. We relate tactfully or tactlessly (Brand and Yancey 1980).” 
• “Habituation – the action or process of becoming habituated.” 
• “Habituation – the diminishing of an innate response to a frequently repeated stimulus.” 
• “Habituation includes an experience as simple as repeated exposure to a touch sensation, or as complex as repeated touch exposure with accompanying positive contextual features.” 
• “Texture is revealed most fully by the vibrating motion caused by moving the hand to produce a high-pitched vibration. The initial outcome of the vibrating hand often determines whether we decide to explore the surface further” – defines different qualities of surfaces, whether something feels familiar, whether to texture is painful, soft or comforting, whether we want to touch it again or not, whether it makes us uncomfortable or happy. 

Touch Properties and Sensory Evaluation 

• Smooth vs rough = separated and measured in our brains 
• Ticking gives signals – laughing reaction – annoyance 
• Itch – frustration / pain/ relief / desire 
• “Affective properties are those with meanings and values associated with the stimulus object.” 
• “Properties that we group together based upon relationships among features and prior experience with similar objects are called “collative.” 
• Complex emotions and feelings / memories, vs something more familiar and comforting or triggering 
• “fabrics with a flat and warm touch resulted in a “classic” sensibility but those with a flat and cool touch represented a “modern” feeling.” 
• Reactions do not always have to be positive or negative as they can make you feel indifferent or neutral towards something, or even bored. 
• “tickling with a feather on the back of the hand can be perceived as a subjective tactual sensation.” – connotations with different forms of touch that are not communicated verbally, suggestive, comforting, such as when someone is sad, and no one says anything they just give them a hug to suggest and personal security from the person giving the hug to the person receiving the hug. 

Associations of Touch 

• Pepper (1970) states “acknowledges four origins of associations in development of our perceptions: those properties located in the object; the idiosyncratic traits within the individual; those needs and basic drives that traverse the individual and create our common humanity; and those familiar experiences with family and social groups within one’s culture. Regardless of origin, touch sensations create experiences and memories that lead to judgment and action”  
• Idiosyncratic – relating to idiosyncrasy; peculiar or individual. 
• Idiosyncrasy – a mode of behavior or way of thought peculiar to an individual. 
• therefore, this means that our bodies can understand through touch when something is familiar, comfortable and strange, negative, positive, reminiscent of the past, relating to a fond, sad, triggering memory etc.  

 

• “What early experiences of touch are remembered and how are they described? What early memories of touch are related to fabric or clothing and how are they described?” 
• Researching suggests that early experiences in life reflect the adult’s perspectives and feelings towards social relationships, perceptions and interpretations through early life experiences. 
• In the study – US and Chinese students’ studies something like art and design = where sensitivity to touch = favorable for what they’re studying 
• “Approximately one-quarter of US respondents (27 percent) and one-fifth of Chinese respondents (22 percent) reported touching certain animals (e.g. cats, dogs, fish, horses, rabbits, snakes, silkworms). As the second most prominent category, bedding (e.g. baby blankets, sheets, blankets) was reported by US respondents (14 percent) involved in an early touch experience, while many Chinese respondents (17 percent) recalled the experience of touching family members or familiar people (e.g. mother, father, grandmother, a boy or girl, an infant). Other main categories of objects recalled that were common among both US and Chinese respondents included natural elements (e.g. trees, rocks, water, sand, ice, snowballs, flowers), stuffed animals, dolls or toys, food, home furnishings and clothing items or fabrics.” 
• Animals = most frequently remembered early memory touching in both cultures, mother’s skin wasn’t mentioned although would be a very early memory. 
• 50% of US people in the study who touched the animals had negative relations to it = “rough,” “coarse,” “spiky,” “slimy,” “bumpy” or “scratchy”). 
• Chinese people in the study had fewer negative reactions but more unpleasant tactile feelings = “sticky,” “prickly” 
• US people – Bedding = soft, smooth, comforting, security, calming 
• Chinese people – family members – ““liked” touch sensations with only one exception. Although with mixed cognitive descriptors of “stubble,” “prickly,” “warm,” “soft,” “smooth” and “coarse,” the affective descriptors were mostly positive, such as “comfortable/ comforting,” “safe” or “happy.”” 
• “one respondent described touching her father’s unshaved chin as “prickly and fuzzy, yet masculine, safe and mature.”” – proving that the sensation of touch can be extremely complex due to the different connotations surrounding different feelings, but when context ins involved the emotional response or literal response can be altered due to the situation/people involved/area this was taken place/how long ago this was. 
• “Temperature to touch is one of the foremost feelings that takes the least amount of effort to comprehend”