InTouch Wearables: Exploring Ambient Remote Touch in Child-Parent Relationships

Abstract

InTouch Wearables is a set of wearables that consist of dresses and shoulder pieces that allow mother and child share remote touches through garments with ambient feedback. This was developed to explore how remote touches can convey emotion and help people stay connected between remote locations. This project was created based on the lead artist's personal experience with her child. In InTouch Wearables, a parent can increase the vividness of her conversation with a child through contextualized touch, and the loved ones may enhance the affective tone of their communication using a remote touch technology. All the electronic components of the garment for sensing human touches and actuating color-changing garment are integrated on the main fabrics. Audience will be able to touch and activate interaction between garments.