Research

In searching for case studies to support this project, I came across a project for Alzheimer's disease patients and elderly people called "memory box". The idea is that by putting in a box objects from the past with a rich tactile experience, the patients could be prompted to reminisce about their past, and enjoy the moment that they could reach back to. This is a really simple but powerful project that touches on the emotional and neurological aspects of tactile memory.

When I looked further into the neurological side of tactile memory, I found the physical proof of tactile experiences capturing memory. The C-tactile afferents are in control of the emotional part of our sense of touch, they convey the context surrounding that touch instead of the factual information about the object of touch. Research have shown that repeatedly touching the contours of something increases the level of accuracy in recalling shapes. In rare cases, people could be "touch-blind" and not be able to distinguish between the contexts of touch. And most importantly, it's something that one loses as one ages.