Prof Laura Colucci-Gray and Prof Andrew Manches (Project co-leads (UK)) have been successful with their new project “Feeling the Untouchable: Haptic touch experiences for naturalistic learning”, receiving a £922,000 grant through round one of UKRI’s highly competitive cross-council scheme designed to stimulate exciting new interdisciplinary research.
The project is led by Prof Advaith Siddharthan at The Open University, and is a collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, Learning for Sustainability Scotland, and Sight Scotland. Spanning two years, this project will explore how children could experience and learn about the natural world through touch and is poised to make a significant impact on sensory learning and inclusivity within educational environments.
By integrating tactile experiences into the learning process, the project seeks to foster a deeper connection between students and their environment, making science education more engaging and inclusive. A significant component of the project is the development of digital haptic interfaces to allow touch-based science learning in the classroom as well as outdoors. Such hands-on experiences will integrate seamlessly into their education, making abstract concepts such as electromagnetic forces and fields more tangible and understandable. This technology will also enable children with visual impairments to learn through touch alongside their sighted counterparts, thereby also promoting inclusivity and accessibility in education.
The research team includes Dr Lisa Bower (The Open University) and Dr Poppy Lakeman-Fraser (Imperial College London), Dr Nirwan Sharma (The Open University), and Jonathan Hancock (University of Edinburgh).
Co-lead Prof Colucci-Gray says, “by reclaiming the value of touch and integrating it into the learning process, the project promises to make science more accessible, engaging, and relevant to students' lives, ultimately fostering a deeper connection with the natural world.”
