RYO TADA

The Artist

Conscious Isolation 

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Ryo Tada [Tokyo] is an Experience Designer and the founder of Studio Tada that lives and works in London. She is an experienced multidisciplinary designer with a double master’s degree in Innovation Design Engineering at Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art. Tada’s goal is to make the world a happier place with design. Passionate about creating a new perspective in the world and curious about what humans do, Tada’s design approach connects people to people, people to things and things to things.

Amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the world are observing social distancing. Unable to embrace our friends and family, we have become ever more reliant on digital messaging and video calls. Now, more than ever, we are actually aware of the profound importance of touch. However, with new digital technologies, we are now able to stay connected through touch. ‘FULU’ - which means

‘tangible’ in ancient Japanese - allows you to touch the hand of a loved one, stroke the fur of your dog, or feel the waves on a beach, wherever you are in the world.

FULU aims to bring the sense of touch to our everyday digital communication, at a time when this has never been more vital. A light and mobile fingernail-mounted device, FULU brings the organic subtleties of touch to video calls and digital messaging. Easily connected to your mobile device with Bluetooth, you can send and receive touch

through voice calls, just using standard voice and video call apps.

FULU creates a virtual feeling of touch on the top side of the nail, whilst your soft finger pad is free to touch physical objects. In other words, FULU creates ‘Augmented Touch’, allowing users to experience virtual and physical touch seamlessly and simultaneously. In terms of touch sensitivity, the fingernail is equally as sensitive as the finger pad side. Our brain translates the fingernail side sensation to the finger pad side.

Currently, digital experiences are focused on the audio-visual, while other human senses are neglected. Of these other sensory systems, touch is vital for creating trust and empathy. For example, a baby first creates a connection with its mother through a simple touch. Psychologists have proven that people can communicate six emotions via

touch alone — anger, fear, disgust, love, gratitude and sympathy. Touch is a fluent language on its own.

With FULU, we can physically connect with our family at a time of social distancing, making an emotional bond that only a touch can convey.

Tada’s work has been exhibited at Dutch Design Week (2019), London Design Festival (2019) and TOTO Gallery London (2018) and also featured on Dezeen and ACM Interactions.

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