When unable to see its our natural instinct to choose to listen to our surrounding environment, but what happens if these senses are both impaired or lost altogether.

We are constantly bombarded with visual information at an increasingly rapid pace. Juhani Pallasmaa states, “The current industrial mass production of visual imagery tends to alienate vision from emotional involvement participation”.

This statement resonates with me as I feel a sense of detachment and isolation being a contact lens user and relying heavily on them on a daily basis. Advertisers, buildings, retailers and the like are all vying for your attention at every turn and while its competitive for attention, it concerns me that there is such a heavy reliance on visual communication as the best way to get our attention.

Sight loss in the UK effects one person in every thirty with around one hundred people starting to loose there eyesight everyday. Similarly hearing loss is projected to increase by 45% within the next decade.

As Pallasmaa states “the dominance of the eye and the suppression of the other sense tends to push us into isolation, detachment and exteriority”.

For this reason I aim to explore how an interior can support individuals to activate their own journey within an unfamiliar environment through the inclusive use of the body’s sensory system.

Through my research I aim to design to engage the body through the integration of the following senses:

Smell sight hearing touch temperature

With an emphasis on inclusiveness, I aim to support those who may experience difficulty familiarizing themselves in unfamiliar environments.  As a result I Intend to create a toolbox of devices which when combined, create an interior environment which is empathetic and supportive of individual needs whilst at the same time enjoyable to be in