TACTIMEMOIR
Touch Once,
Feel Forever,
Share Everywhere!
Emma Li 2024.04-2024.06
Research, Concept Design, Prototyping, Test, Front end design
Design Fiction
Product & UI/UX
I designed and developed a glove that emotionally reconnects people across time and space by preserving, reproducing and sharing tactile memories.
Figma, Rhino,
AI Generator
Project Background
Modernization and Urbanization
Miss the warmth and authenticity of in-person interactionsns
Isolation and Loneliness
With the development of modernization and urbanization, the pursuit of personal achievement and independent living has made close personal connections more difficult, leading to a growing sense of isolation and loneliness. And loneliness has led to physical and mental health issues for many people.
While social media and communication technologies offer convenience, they lack the warmth and authenticity of face-to-face interactions, leaving digital communication unable to provide genuine emotional fulfillment.
I’m passionate about using design to bridge the digital and physical worlds, bringing warmth and connection to people’s lives. This project felt personal to me—I deeply empathize with the loneliness and disconnection many feel in modern society, which is why I saw an opportunity to create something meaningful to address these challenges!
Pain Points
Physical and temporal distance leads to emotional fading – In modern society, people often struggle to maintain close emotional connections due to physical and time-based separation, such as with distant friends, family, or partners.
Project’s Objective
How might we help people rebuild emotional connections across time and space to alleviate social isolation and loneliness, enhancing overall well-being.
The Concept
TactiMemoir is a glove that bridges physical separation by preserving and reproducing tactile memories, enabling intimate reconnection through touch across time and space.
The design is rooted in the profound understanding of human touch, recognizing tactile emotions as a vital bridge between people.
The Purpose of TactiMemoir
Physical Distance
Bridging Distances, Connecting Hearts!
TactiMemoir serves diverse groups, including long-distance couples, expatriates, seniors without nearby family, and families of the deceased, helping them bridge gaps in time and space to reconnect intimately through recorded touch.
Emotional Distance
Restoring Connection in the World!
In a world that is increasingly digital and isolated, Tactimemoir reconnects people through touch. Tactimemoir provides a new way of emotional connection between people.
Design Progress
Designing the smart glove prototype was a hands-on, multi-phase journey for me. I started by identifying emerging signals and selecting cultural archetypes, then developed future scenarios to bring the concept to life. Through iterative brainstorming and feature refinement, I shaped a design that truly captured the essence of tactile connection.
1.1 Find Faint Signals
Faint signals played an inspiring role in shaping the project, uncovering emerging behaviors and subtle technological trends that could shape our future. By analyzing these trends, I ensured my design stayed ahead of the curve, aligning with evolving social and cultural needs to create something truly relevant and future-ready.
The Signals were Found:
Support for Signals:
1.2 Choose Archetype
The "Choose Archetype" phase was a chance to ground the design in something familiar and culturally meaningful, making the product more relatable and easier for users to connect with. By selecting an archetype as a narrative anchor, I could explore how the product might shape and be shaped by future societal and technological shifts, bringing creativity and purpose together to imagine a plausible future.
The Archetype was Chose:
Why?
1.3 Develop Scenario
The purpose of developing a "what if" scenario for this project is to create a plausible narrative that explores how the fictional product might integrate into future social conditions.This step helped me craft a narrative that made the design feel not just visionary but also deeply connected to everyday life, bridging the gap between speculative ideas and relatable human experiences.
What If:
The Project Envitions:
1.4 Ideation
Building on earlier research and insights from signals and archetypes, the ideation phase became a dynamic journey of creativity and focus. By identifying emerging behaviors, technological advancements, and the growing issue of social isolation, I recognized an opportunity to design for meaningful tactile connections. The scenario development process helped shape a compelling narrative, imagining a future where people could share and relive tactile sensations across distances.
With this foundation, I explored a wide range of design ideas, refining them through brainstorming sessions and iteration. Guided by the "what-if" scenario, I transitioned from concept exploration to selecting and fully developing a functional, user-centered prototype.
Step1. Brainstorming - Some ideas focused on tactile technology and emotional well-being
Future Rescue Underwear for people living alone
A smart garment for people living alone, powered by body heat and equipped with sensors to monitor vitals, detect emergencies, and deliver essential treatments like CPR or the Heimlich maneuver.
Automated Drug Delivery Patches
A solution for depression treatment that empowers patients to manage medication intake in phases, delivering regular doses to support adherence and effective treatment.
Concept:
It determined that the smart glove would serve as the prototype rather than a simple camera concept. This glove enables users to record, relive and share tactile sensations anytime.
Need for a Screen on the Glove:
Touch-Enabled Communication Devices
Social media tools that transmit comforting touch messages, offering emotional support and reducing anxiety as easily as sending a text.
Touch Camera
A wearable device that records and reproduces tactile sensations, allowing users to capture meaningful touches, like the feel of a loved one’s hand, and relive them later.
Advantages:
Innovative Use of Tactile Technology
Bridging Spatial and Temporal Disconnect
Alleviating feelings of loneliness
Multi-functional Approach
Step2. Define - Define Concept and Features
Key Features of the Glove:
Why？
Real-Time Feedback on tactile sensations.
Interactive Controls for adjusting experiences directly.
Guided Prompts to enhance user interaction.
Connection Status to confirm device syncing.
With this project, I set out to bridge emotional gaps across time and space, tackling social isolation and loneliness to enhance well-being. At the heart of the concept is a smart glove designed to capture, relive, and share tactile sensations—bringing touch to life through an integrated screen for deeper interaction.
Prototyping & Testing
At this stage, prototyping became an exciting opportunity to bring my design concepts to life and ensure they truly resonated with users. It allowed me to explore and refine the glove's tactile and gesture features while uncovering and addressing usability challenges early on. By testing and iterating, I could transform abstract ideas into practical, user-centered solutions.
The tested prototype includes a user flow, interfaces of the screen on the glove and gesture guide. The goal is to ensure users can easily and accurately use the product to address their pain points, the gesture controls and screen interfaces on the glove were tested and iterated.
2.1 FlowChart
To dive deeper into the user journey, I created this flowchart to map out the TactiMemoir glove’s core functions—recording, experiencing, and sharing touch. Breaking down each step helped me visualize how users would interact with the glove, ensuring the process feels seamless, intuitive, and natural.
2.2 Screen Interfaces
I designed the glove’s screen interface to seamlessly support its three core functions—recording, experiencing, and sharing touch. Through testing and continuous iteration, I refined the interface to ensure an intuitive and engaging user experience.
2.3 Gesture Design
To make interactions effortless, I incorporated gesture controls for quick, hands-free operation—perfect for a device designed to record and replay tactile experiences on a small screen. This lets users instantly capture and relive sensations, creating a more immersive and seamless experience without relying on external devices.
These iterations make the device more user- friendly and efficient, enabling users to record tactile experiences quickly and accurately
In testing, I focused on fine-tuning the user experience—evaluating the flow, screen interfaces, and gesture controls to make interactions feel natural and effortless. The key takeaways led me to refine navigation for seamless interaction, enhance screen interfaces for better tactile feedback and visualization, and adjust gesture controls to balance precision with ease, preventing accidental triggers while keeping usability smooth and intuitive.
Final Design
The final design includes the glove's screen interfaces refined through testing, the glove’s appearance and features design, product website interfaces, and a quick start guide with gesture instructions. My goal was to present a cohesive and visually compelling narrative that clearly communicates the product’s purpose, features, and value, providing an engaging user experience.
3.1 Product Appearance
To enhance the glove's functionality in creating a warm sense of emotional connection and to accommodate diverse user styles and preferences, I designed five variations in low-saturation colors. These include both color and black tones, with each option identical in features, differing only in color.
3.2 Product Features
I designed three core tactile functions for TactiMemoir, along with additional support features to complement its wearable nature—ensuring it’s not just intuitive to use but also durable enough for everyday interactions.
3.3 Website Interfaces
I designed the TactiMemoir website as an immersive platform to bring the product’s mission, features, and emotional impact to life. With sections like a landing page, product details, testimonials, feature highlights, purchasing options, and a quick start guide, the site creates a realistic and engaging experience. By weaving design fiction into the narrative, users can envision how the tactile glove fits into their lives—making the concept feel not just imaginative, but tangible and real.
3.4 Quick Start Guide
I created the Quick Start Guide to make it easy for users to get comfortable with TactiMemoir’s unique features and functions. With clear, step-by-step instructions, safety tips, and troubleshooting advice, it ensures a smooth and confident start—especially for first-time users exploring the magic of tactile memory.
My Reflection
In the Design Fiction project, I gained a deeper understanding of speculative design’s potential to address real-world challenges and future needs. A key strength of the project was its focus on empathy-driven design integrated with future technology. By addressing issues of loneliness and disconnection in modern society, I anchored TactiMemoir’s concept in relatable human needs, while envisioning how future tech could foster emotional connections.
Though innovative, I recognized that technical feasibility might challenge some advanced features, such as real-time tactile feedback. In future projects, I plan to work more closely with technical teams early on to assess feasibility, balancing visionary design with realistic implementation.
This project also helped me enhance the user experience through detail-oriented iteration.In the prototyping phase, I optimized gesture controls and screen interfaces on the glove. This iterative approach can ensure a smooth, intuitive user experience, allowing each interaction to be effortless and user-friendly.
I also realized the importance of enhancing user education. While the Quick Start Guide was detailed, it could be overwhelming for new users. Moving forward, I aim to simplify onboarding, possibly through interactive tutorials to ease users into complex features.
Overall, this project taught me the importance of balancing innovation with practicality. I learned that while speculative design fosters imagination, grounding ideas in real-world viability is essential to make innovative features both achievable and sustainable.