Touchology: Exploration of Empathetic Touch Interaction with Plants for Well-being
Touchology Projects, Flora Touch (a and b), Grass (c and d
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Presentation Title:
- Touchology: Exploration of Empathetic Touch Interaction with Plants for Well-being
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Abstract (Poster)
This paper presents Touchology, a series of interactive plants that explore serenity and emotional attachment through meditative touch of plants with interactive audio-visualizations. Gardening is seen to improve mindfulness, memory and cognitive abilities. Those who are unable to benefit from this activity, such as the mentally and physically disabled, are less prone to be exposed to this leisure. Our approach focuses on creating various audio-visualizations for tactile interactions with living plants to enhance relationships because the plants and users while evoking their empathy. Due to simple technical setups, the projects presented here can be placed anywhere at the ease of the user. Pilot studies with target populations indicate that calming tangible interaction with plants can evoke mindfulness in a similar way to gardening related experiences.
