Engaging the sense of touch in interactive architecture

Touch-based interactions with computing technologies have become commonplace in the last few years, from mobile phones to tabletop surfaces. The sense of touch however is not limited to the hand; the entire skin surface of the body is available for tactile interaction. In architecture, researchers are now investigating the potential of interactive surfaces for future architectonic elements, such as walls, floors and ceilings. Apart from the traditional focus on the visual and spatial design considerations of such elements, tactile interaction with interactive surfaces is of growing interest. We present an interactive folded surface as a prototype of future interactive architectural surfaces. We explain how physiological understandings of touch and tactile interaction informed the design choices of the prototype. Our work contributes to understandings of how the material properties and interactive behaviours of these new surfaces will afford new kinds of human experience centred on the sense of touch.