Outside / Inside

22nd – 23rd April 2008

An trans-disciplinary masters workshop in GPS and Ultrasound.
Download Workshop PDF.

Introduction:
Touch is our bridge with architecture and the world. All of our senses are extensions of touch, since ears, nose, mouth and eyes are specializations of the skin, the most sensitive of our organs.
As Pallasmaa’s put’s it; “touch is the unconscious of vision, and this hidden tactile experience determines the sensuous quality of the perceived object, and mediates messages of invitation or rejection, courtesy, or hostility.”. Digital technologies are allowing us to ‘touch’ different spaces that are both inside us and outside us, and close to us and far away from us.
This two day workshop will encourage students to consider the design space that is found between the GPS satellites that orbit the Earth at a height of 12,600 miles, and the 20cm sensing depth of Ultrasound that can reveal the organs beneath our skin.

Context:
The sense of touch obviously plays a unique and important role in human interaction. Touching is not only closely linked to sexual activity and to notions of closeness and intimacy, but, as evidenced in our language, is often used as a metaphor for emotional impact (i.e., “I was really touched by her story”). Furthermore, as evidenced in the research on social touch, touching plays a role, albeit sometimes subliminal, in a much wider variety of social transactions than is ordinarily appreciated.
In general, it seems clear that the inclusion of touching in shared virtual environments will strongly increase the sense of togetherness.

Durlach, N. & Slater, M. (1998). Presence in shared virtual environments and virtual togetherness. Cambridge: MIT Press