Discovering through touch
Tactile resources invite users to explore through direct contact with different textures, shapes, surfaces and materials. Touch provides information that cannot always be obtained through sight or hearing and makes it possible to discover qualities such as softness, roughness, flexibility, relief, temperature or resistance.
In a multisensory environment, tactile stimulation can take many forms: touching a surface, manipulating an object, comparing materials or actively searching for differences and similarities.
From simple exploration to purposeful activity
A tactile resource does not need to be complex to provide a meaningful experience. The important factor is what it allows the user to explore and how it is presented.
Depending on the person and the activity, tactile resources can be used to:
- Explore different textures and materials.
- Compare, distinguish and match tactile sensations.
- Encourage manipulation and active exploration.
- Direct attention towards particular characteristics of an object.
- Combine touch with visual, auditory or other sensory information.
- Create activities based on choice, recognition or discovery.
The same resource can therefore support very different experiences depending on the abilities, interests and level of participation of each user.
Touch requires time and choice
Tactile experiences are especially personal. A texture that one person finds pleasant or interesting may be indifferent or uncomfortable for another. It is therefore useful to offer opportunities to explore without assuming that every user should respond to the same materials in the same way.
Rather than accumulating many stimuli, it is often more effective to present a carefully selected range of contrasting resources and allow enough time for the person to discover, compare and choose.
HANDYCAT selects tactile resources for different forms of sensory exploration and can help you combine them according to the users, the activities and the other equipment in the multisensory space.