touch aesthetics fellowship

We are seeking disabled artists for a Los Angeles-based 3-month research and creative exploration fellowship that explores the intersections of haptics and disability, harnessing the transformative power of touch and creative technology to reimagine how we engage with the world and create new possibilities for learning, creativity and accessibility in immersive storytelling. A new landscape of experience design is now possible by combining immersive and interactive tools with new haptic vests, gloves, and hand/arm/feet tactile actuators.

This fellowship is a partnership between the Haptics for Inclusion Lab, under the Narrative and Emerging Media Program at Arizona State University, and Leonardo CripTech Incubator.

Leonardo CripTech Incubator is an art and technology program for disability innovation. Encompassing labs, workshops, fellowships, presentations, publication, and education, this innovation incubator is a community platform for disabled artists to engage and remake creative technologies through the lens of accessibility. Employing a broad understanding of technologies, including prosthetic tools, neural networks, software, and the built environment, CripTech Incubator reimagines enshrined notions of how a body-mind can move, look, and communicate.

The Haptics for Inclusion Lab, under the Arizona State University Narrative and Emerging Media program, ignites imagination using haptics technology as a force for perceptual change and inclusion of the most marginalized in our society. The Haptics for Inclusion Lab combines the power of haptics - testing out new haptics technologies including gloves, vests, full body suits and custom made devices - with immersive storytelling to explore the full potential of haptics technology in the creative narrative process.

ACTIVITIES

Participants will engage in activities emphasizing touch as a sensory modality, exploring its potential to reshape learning and creativity. The Fellowship will include a combination of presentations, prototyping sessions, and group discussions to address the ways in which haptics and disability-informed design can better support diverse communities. It will culminate in the creation of new artistic and technological prototypes that reflect both accessibility and creativity. Fellows will also receive support to develop and refine project proposals to pitch to granting and industry bodies.

The Fellowship will take place at the Haptics for Inclusion Lab at the ASU California Center - Broadway (Herald Examiner Building) in Downtown Los Angeles alongside a virtual program of talks, workshops, and crit sessions.

The fellowship requires once-a-week check-ins that can happen in person at the Haptics for Inclusion lab or online. The schedule will be determined in consultation with staff and fellows.

TIMELINE

18 November 2024: Application deadline

11 December 2024: Fellows selected

January 2025: Define fellowship schedule

February 2025 - April 2025: Fellowship

April 2025: Final Showcase