Affect Space: Semantics of Caress

This project focuses on the development of a language of interaction based on developing an affect space in collaborative sensing environments. The goal is to design a networked semantics of caress, where the interactivity can recognize, understand, and even express non-rational states such as emotion or intention . This suggests the development of qualitative models for data flow and data-architecture and the development of languages of intimacy, gesture, and the extension of tactility. This project builds a suite of interrelated networked devices within the collaborative sensing environment. Initially we are prototyping several wearable or portable input and output devices with the goal of developing a networked performance environment. Central to the creation of the suite of devices is the gestural interface toolkit (GIT) which integrates input and output devices and networking necessary for encoding, transmitting and synthesizing affect data. A key input technology is the advanced optical smart fabric, developed by Tactex Controls Inc. This fabric recognizes multiple simultaneous points of contact, and can measures hand movement space so that touch can be transformed and recognized qualitatively. In the output domain, input 'affect data' such as gesture, caress or physiological data such as heart-rate can be transmitted to a remote location as ‘gestural output’.