Touch Post-Covid19: Navigating through deafblindness in the UK via contactless haptic-audio-visual technologies of perception.

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This is a public-facing investigation into the impact of touch deprivation on deafblind communities. Building on an existing interdisciplinary research project (Film and Television, and Quantum Physics) at the University of Glasgow, it examines sense perception through the means of audio- visual impairment and investigates how technologies of perception may augment the sensory experience of deafblind people. Covid19 has acutely heightened our awareness of and restrained us from using the sense of touch. Touching is now threatening lives, but it still remains a vital connection to the world and others. For deafblind communities, who rely on haptic experiences to navigate the world, the fear of touch and intimacy in post-Covid society is likely to impose new challenges and increase social isolation. Working primarily with Deafblind Scotland, and Deafblind UK, and drawing on sensory and media studies, we will create audio-visual documentation of social experiences of selected members, which will aid in understanding their and our new world. We will also develop strategies and new contactless haptic-audio-visual tools/technologies that facilitate safe and reliable communication for individuals. Research findings will reach policymakers, academics, and public audiences through reports that inform policymaking, contactless haptic-audio-visual tools and strategies, online exhibitions and open access data, journal articles, and public awareness events.