Emily Cheng

How might we empower the visually impaired to engage and communicate their memories through an inclusive multisensory experience?  

Memories are encoded by multisensory experience, including visual, sound, touch, taste and smell. However, the way people capture and store memories are predominantly visually oriented. For the visually impaired population, they are not able to fully participate in the experience, leading to communication gap and sometimes even social isolation. Memory is not only a representation of self-identity but also a currency for creating connections with others. 

As we move into the digital world, the existing digital interface, visual, audio and tactile are well explored; however, sense of smell and taste are still in its infancy. In fact, smell, more than any other sense, is most effective in triggering emotions and memories. Therefore, this research speculates about how emerging scent technology and design can help the segment of our population who have lost or nearly lost their sight, whilst also inspiring opportunities for serving the sighted population.

LYFE is a multisensory storytelling platform designed for the visually impaired to share and engage with memories. It enables a new way of experiencing life moments and provides better communication between the sighted and non-sighted group. It helps people with visual impairment to gain access to photographs, record personal memo that sync to calendars and even physically output the memories and pass on for generations to come. LYFE strives to create a more vivid and richer experience of memories beyond mere visual representations and ultimately reminding us being more mindful and connected with our senses. 

LYFE – Experience more together.