Descrizione del progetto
Quanta intimità hai con… il tuo computer?
Il tatto è un canale comunicativo non verbale che trasmette emozioni intime. Ma può essere anche virtuale? Il progetto Intimate Touch, finanziato dal Consiglio europeo della ricerca, formulerà una nuova concezione del modo in cui le tecnologie utilizzano il tatto per interagire con l’essere umano. Le tecnologie in grado utilizzare questo senso rappresenteranno un nuovo paradigma di dispositivi interattivi, esemplificati soprattutto dai robot destinati all’assistenza sanitaria. Nell’ambito di questo progetto, il team di ricerca utilizza l’intimità come lente per il tatto: prende infatti in considerazione l’esperienza percepita del tatto, la varietà di punti del corpo in cui si può essere toccati da strumenti tecnologici, e il fatto che questo senso può trasformare la nostra visione di noi stessi. Intimate Touch svilupperà una teoria, dei metodi e delle tecnologie specifiche. Inoltre, coniugherà ricerche sulle tecnologie intime con teorie psicologiche relative all’intimità e prospettive neuroscientifiche sul tatto.
Obiettivo
Intimate Touch will re-conceptualise how technologies use touch to interact with us. Bringing intimacy as a lens on touch inspires us to think about the felt experience of touch, the diversity of places on the body where we will be touched by technology, and the sense that touch can be transformative of our view of ourselves. This project will develop the theory, methods and technologies of Intimate Touch. It will bring together research in Human-Computer Interaction on intimate technologies with new interaction techniques, alongside psychological theories on intimacy and neuroscience perspectives on touch. Technologies that touch us will constitute a new paradigm of interactive devices, most strongly exemplified by care robots. Designing technologies for Intimate Touch will be foundational in creating dignified and acceptable interactions between humans and technologies.
The first objective is to develop a model of ‘intimate technology’. No researcher has done this before. This model will be developed through a large-scale interview study alongside in-situ, long-term studies of our own demonstrators of Intimate Touch. By identifying which interactions lead to intimacy, this project will have empirically identified a new class of technology, ‘intimate technology’.
Autonomous systems will touch many areas of our bodies. Yet, there has been no serious study of touch experiences other than on the hands and shoulders. My second objective will counter this by innovating on a design approach that centres the felt experience of touch from technology, and by creating a dataset that describes people’s experience of touch from technology across the body.
My final objective is to develop two demonstrators of Intimate Touch. This risky challenge will evidence how touch with technology transforms us. Practically this will provide a roadmap to good touch from technology. Empirically this will lay the groundwork for a re-conceptualization of our relationship with technology
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-BasedIstituzione ospitante
100 44 Stockholm
Svezia