SENSE: Sensory Explorations of Nature in School Environments

研究表明，只有不到四分之一的英国儿童经常与当地的自然环境接触，许多儿童患有“自然缺失症”，影响了身体和心理健康。最近，对COVID-19疫情对儿童影响的分析表明，生活贫困的儿童受教育程度低与获得户外空间的机会减少之间存在重要联系。至关重要的是，儿童和社区获得绿色空间的机会不平等与自然退化的总体模式相一致，2019年自然状况报告得出的结论是，英国是世界上自然资源最枯竭的国家之一，无法实现《生物多样性公约》爱知目标等国际承诺。我们认为，共同解决儿童在科学学习、自然和户外活动方面的不公平现象，是推动围绕环境可持续性的讨论的关键。感官输入，包括触觉、嗅觉和声音，对早期科学学习很重要。基于可变摩擦的新型触觉技术允许用户在触摸屏上感受到纹理。我们建议开发这样的技术来创造一个对自然进行感官探索的平台。我们将汇集我们在计算机科学、教育、生态学和科学传播方面的跨学科专业知识，研究触摸和触觉界面，以弥合儿童接触自然、户外和科学学习方面的已知鸿沟。我们强调学校场地是一个空间，可以通过野生动物友好的园艺实践来发展，作为所有学生与自然接触的公平空间，并开发一个公民科学项目，在这样的空间中观察自然。我们的研究旨在通过开发可变摩擦触觉界面来增强户外观察能力，这种界面可以让你在触摸屏幕上的图像时感受到纹理。因此，我们的项目将寻求通过开发可变摩擦触觉界面来增强户外观察，让你在触摸屏幕上的图像时感受到纹理。主要目的是增强，而不是分散或取代，对自然的体验和好奇心。我们希望我们开发的触控界面能够在以下方面发挥作用：(1)吸引人们对自然的关注，例如，孩子可能会接触到真正的树木，但不会介意触摸它们，也不会质疑它们为什么有不同的树皮；(b)使不可接触的事物具有触感，例如通过触摸獾的图像；(c)玩弄比例，例如在微观（如叶脉）或宏观分辨率下感受图像，或比较不同季节树叶的纹理；(d)即使在室内也要继续探索自然，以保持兴趣。我们将以多学科的方式深入探讨自然周围触觉和数字人机交互产生的科学和哲学问题。例如，感官输入是否有助于学生区分物种（例如通过树皮或树叶的纹理区分植物物种），数字触觉体验是否产生与仅看图像在质量或数量上不同的情绪和感受，以及它们是否有助于学生与自然重新联系并鼓励户外触觉探索。我们力求扩大来自不同背景的学生影响和参与科学探究和保护行动的能力，在他们的校园内对自然生物多样性进行“缓慢”的多方面科学、艺术和感官观察。在此过程中，他们将学习循环经济，探索永续农业的理念，重新设计学校场地，以支持野生动物，并为自己提供更丰富的感官体验。我们将开发首个公民科学在线博物馆，让学生在学校发表和分享他们的生物多样性故事。

Studies show that fewer than a quarter of British children regularly use their local patch of nature and many suffer from 'Nature Deficit Disorder', impacting physical and emotional health. Recently, analysis of the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on children has shown a critical link between low educational attainment and reduced access to outdoor spaces for children living in poverty. Crucially, unequal access to green space for children and communities aligns with a general pattern of nature degradation, with the 2019 State of Nature report concluding that the UK is among the world's most nature depleted countries, and unable to meet international commitments such as the Convention on Biological Diversity's Aichi Targets. We believe that jointly addressing iniquities with respect to children's access to science learning, nature and the outdoors is key for advancing the discourse around environmental sustainability.Sensory input, including those of touch, smell and sound, are known to be important to early science learning. New haptic technologies based on variable friction allow users to feel textures on a touch screen. We propose developing such technologies to create a platform for sensory explorations of nature. We will bring together our interdisciplinary expertise across Computer Science, Education, Ecology and Science Communication to research touch and haptic interfaces for bridging the known divides with respect to children's access to nature and the outdoors and science learning. We emphasise school grounds as spaces that can be developed through wildlife-friendly gardening practices as equitable spaces for encounters with nature for all pupils, and develop a citizen science project to observe nature in such spaces. Our research then aims to augment observation outdoors through developing variable-friction haptic interfaces that allow you to feel texture when touching an image on the screen. Our project will thus seek to augment observation outdoors through developing variable-friction haptic interfaces that allow you to feel texture when touching an image on the screen. The key aim is to enhance, rather than distract from or replace, experiences of and curiosity about nature. We expect the touch interfaces we develop to be useful for (a) drawing attention to nature, e.g. a child may have access to real trees but not be minded to touch them or question why they have different barks; (b) making the untouchable tactile, e.g. through touching images of a badger; (c) playing with scale, e.g. feeling images at microscopic (e.g. leaf veins) or macroscopic resolutions, or comparing textures of leaves over seasons; and (d) continuing explorations of nature even when indoors, to sustain interest. We will explore in depth in a multidisciplinary manner the scientific and philosophical issues that stem from tactile but digital human-computer interactions around nature. For example, whether the inclusion of sensory input help pupils in distinguishing species (e.g. plant species through the textures of tree bark or leaves), whether digital tactile experiences generate emotions and feelings that are qualitatively or quantitatively different from just looking at the image, and whether they can help reconnect pupils with nature and encourage tactile explorations outdoors.We seek to amplify the capacity of school pupils, from diverse backgrounds, to influence and participate in scientific inquiry and conservation action, by engaging in a "slowed down" multifaceted scientific, artistic and sensory observation of nature biodiversity within their school grounds. In the process they will learn about the circular economy and explore ideas from permaculture for redesigning their school grounds to support wildlife and also provide themselves with a richer sensory experience. We will develop a first of its kind online museum of citizen science for pupils to publish and share their biodiversity stories from school grounds.