TOUCHed

Haptics, is or dealing with the sense of touch, is a key part of the everyday for a Deafblind individual.  The sense of touch is harnessed to convey information of multiple types (Visual, Auditory, Emotional etc).

I recently had the privilege of attending two Haptics conferences.  Firstly the IEEE Haptics Symposium 2012 which was held in Vancouver, Canada in March and most recently the EuroHaptics 2012 conference in Tampere, Finland.  Both of these conferences were extremely interesting and although most of the technology currently being developed is not directly applicable, many could be combined with existing work to be utilised in the Disability sector.

EuroHaptics 2012 was most intriguing for its inclusion of a talk about Social Haptics.
Social Haptics, researched by Riitta Lahtinen.  Riitta presented with Russ Palmer to demonstrate their usage of "Socially Acceptable" sign which relies heavily on the use of body areas that are predetermined as neutral zones (non-invasive or obstructive).

Social Haptics is utilised in two different environments :

Formal Interpreting
If the hand is primarily being used for the conveyence of auditory based information the back and shoulder locations are utilised (via a second interpreter) to provide environmental information and cues.  This can include Audience response, room layout and emotional responses.

Relaxed Environments
For times when the receiver's hands are in use for other reasons (typing on a keyboard for example) then the area of the shoulder/back can be utilised to make simple requests and provide basic information that is neither obtrusive nor requires removing the hands from their preoccupation. 

Social Haptics is being utilised in a number of countries in Europe.