WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE: Scaling empathy through patient-centred Affective Touch

《**触碰距离内**：通过以病人为中心的情感接触提升同理心》是一项可行性研究项目，旨在响应创新英国竞赛：数字心理健康的思维定势扩展现实(XR)：STRAND 1。ZU-UK将探索XR(基于单位的平台)内使用低成本设备进行远程触摸同步的潜力，以解决目前数字心理健康治疗所提供的显著差距。指导**在触摸距离内**可行性研究的关键问题是：*在一对一护理的背景下，我们如何将身临其境的技术应用于心理健康和福祉治疗的交付，更具体地说，当患者在家或卧床时？*远程触摸同步的组合是否可以，与皮肤对皮肤的人类情感触摸相比，触觉触摸和360°视频提供了类似的心理健康益处？*哪些创造性的健康合作伙伴关系可以为支持提供培训和治疗解决方案提供理想的环境？该项目的创新之处在于方法(创意、技术、伙伴关系、培训)的独特组合，以解决数字心理健康治疗市场中仍未解决的一个重大缺口：触摸在医疗中无可争议的积极作用。这项可行性研究将通过使zu-UK、其跨行业顾问及其经验丰富的团队能够发现该项目的优势、弱点、ZU-UK成立于2001年，是一家由残疾人领导、全球多数人领导、女性领导的获奖独立戏剧和数字艺术公司，总部设在利物浦和伦敦东部。在豪尔赫·洛佩斯·拉莫斯和Persis JadéMaravala之间的艺术合作伙伴关系的推动下，zu-UK利用表演、游戏和技术创造了互动体验。它们可能发生在任何地方，包括在你的手机上，在你的房子里，在舞台上，在购物中心或田野里。ZU-UK相信协作人类体验的变革性力量。我们有目的地为人们提供量身定做的体验，以有趣的、意想不到的方式将陌生人聚集在一起，创造另类现实。最近的成就包括：2022年流明奖获得者，IndieCade奖提名者2022年，ABTT首届斯蒂芬·约瑟夫奖2021年获得者，东伦敦创新者(HereEast，伊丽莎白女王奥林匹克公园)，里约热内卢创意产业社会参与创新奖获得者，电子大奖(混合艺术荣誉提及)获得者，先驱天使奖获得者，以及由Total Theatre Awards、牛津大学Samuel Beckett Trust、空间奖和数字文化奖入围/提名的创新者。

'**WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE**: Scaling empathy through patient-centred Affective Touch' is a feasibility study project responding to the Innovate UK competition: _Mindset extended reality (XR) for digital mental health: strand 1\._Through this feasibility study, ZU-UK will explore the potential of remote touch synchronisation within XR (Unity-based Platform) using low-cost devices to address significant gaps in what is currently offered by digital mental health therapies.The key questions guiding the **WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE** feasibility study are:* In what ways can we apply immersive technologies to the delivery of mental health and wellbeing therapies within the context of one-on-one care, more specifically when patients are home bound or bed bound?* Can the combination of remote touch synchronisation, haptic touch and 360º video provide similar mental health benefits when compared with skin-to-skin human affective touch?* Which creative health partnerships can offer the ideal settings for the supported delivery of both training and therapy solutions?What makes this project innovative is the unique combination of approaches (creative, technology, partnership, training) to address a significant gap still unsolved in the digital mental health therapies market: the indisputable positive role of touch in healthcare.This feasibility study will support the process of decision making by enabling ZU-UK, its cross-industry advisors and its experienced team to uncover the project's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as well as identifying the resources needed and the prospects for success.Founded in 2001, ZU-UK is a disabled-led, global majority-led, female-led award-winning independent theatre and digital arts company based in Liverpool and East London. Driven by an artistic partnership between Jorge Lopes Ramos and Persis Jadé Maravala, ZU-UK creates interactive experiences using performance, games, and technology. They can happen anywhere including on your phone, in your house, on a stage, in a shopping mall or a field. ZU-UK believes in the transformative power of collaborative human experience. We set out to purposefully give people tailor-made experiences that bring strangers together in playful, unexpected ways to create alternative realities.Recent achievements include: Lumen Prize Winner 2022, IndieCade Award Nominee 2022, Winner of ABTT's inaugural Stephen Joseph Award 2021, East London Innovators (HereEast, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park), Winner of Rio de Janeiro Award for socially-engaged innovation in the creative industries, Winner of Prix Ars Electronica (Honorary Mention for Hybrid Art), Winner of Herald Angel Award, and finalist/nominee for innovation by Total Theatre Awards, Oxford Samuel Beckett Trust, The Space Award and Digital Culture Awards.