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

“在触摸距离内：通过以患者为中心的情感触摸扩展同理心”是一个以患者为主导的项目，旨在解决数字心理健康疗法开发中心理健康患者代表性不足的问题。zuu - uk将利用低成本设备探索XR（基于unity的平台）内远程触摸同步的潜力，以解决目前数字心理健康治疗中存在的重大差距。指导WITHIN touch DISTANCE的关键问题是：*在一对一护理的背景下，更具体地说，当患者在家或卧床时，我们可以通过哪些方式将沉浸式技术应用于提供心理健康和福祉治疗？*与皮肤对皮肤的情感触摸相比，远程触摸同步、触觉触摸和360º视频的组合是否能提供类似的心理健康益处？*哪些创造性的卫生伙伴关系可以为培训和治疗解决方案的支持提供理想的环境？这个以患者为主导的包容性项目的创新之处在于，它独特地结合了各种方法（创意、技术、伙伴关系、培训），以解决数字心理健康治疗市场中仍未解决的重大差距：触摸在医疗保健中无可争议的积极作用。ZU-UK是一家由残疾人领导、全球多数人领导、女性领导的屡获殊荣的独立戏剧和数字艺术公司，总部位于利物浦和东伦敦。在Persis jad<s:1> Maravala和Jorge Lopes Ramos的艺术合作的推动下，zuu - uk利用表演、游戏和技术创造了互动体验。它们可以发生在任何地方，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。zuu - uk相信人类合作经验的变革力量。我们有目的地为人们提供量身定制的体验，以有趣、意想不到的方式将陌生人聚集在一起，创造另一种现实。最近的成就包括：2022年Lumen奖互动奖得主、2022年IndieCade真人秀奖入选者、2021年ABTT首届斯蒂芬·约瑟夫奖得主、东伦敦创新者（HereEast，伊丽莎白女王奥林匹克公园）、里约热内卢de Janeiro创意产业社会参与创新奖得主、电子艺术奖得主（混合艺术荣誉提名）、先驱天使奖得主、牛津塞缪尔·贝克特信托Total Theatre Awards创新奖决赛/提名者。空间奖和数字文化奖。2021年ABTT首届斯蒂芬·约瑟夫奖被授予zuu - uk的艺术总监，以表彰他“开创性的工作，拓宽了现场和多媒体表演的范围和想象的可能性，实验了观众的参与，探索了与当代英国不同观众直接相关的主题”。

'WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE: Scaling empathy through patient-centred Affective Touch' is a patient-led project addressing the under-representation of mental health patients in the development of digital mental health therapies.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 WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE 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 inclusive patient-led 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.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 Persis Jadé Maravala and Jorge Lopes Ramos, 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 Interactive Award Winner 2022, IndieCade Live Action Award Finalist 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.The 2021 ABTT's inaugural Stephen Joseph Award was awarded to ZU-UK's Artistic Director for: "ground-breaking work that widens the scope and imaginative possibilities of live & multi-media performance, experiments with audience engagement, and exploration of topics of direct relevance to diverse audiences in contemporary Britain"