Derived from design thinking, somatic theory, and improvisational games, “Touch Starved” addresses the innate needs of the human body. Through the series of workshops “Being in Touch” and the accompanying seating device “SAT: Serious Attention to Touch,” “Touch Starved” offers a framework for designers and technologists to understand their neglected physiological needs and become body innovators.
While designers are shaping the future of our material world, they are working in a culture of isolated technological communication and a sensory bias toward sight. “Touch Starved” explores and addresses the relationship between rising reports of touch hunger, the desire for healthy human touch, and the widening mind/body gap found in designers and technologists working today.
Through “Being in Touch,” a series of workshops that question our understanding of touch and support innovation in the body, and “SAT,” a seating device to facilitate healthy consensual touch through free-play and physical discovery, “Touch Starved” seeks to help individuals become holistically healthy. As a continually evolving methodology, it is intended in the future to help inform and address extreme areas of touch alienation such as prison systems and educational infrastructure.
