Last semester, I took a core class called Touch that discussed the very phenomenon Bret Victor is discussing in A Brief Rant on the Future of Interactive Design. In the class, we took time to understand the sheer capability of human touch and the richness of sensory experiences. Inevitably, we also discussed how modern technology is a disservice to the human tactile and proprioceptive experiences, and could even be contributing to the dullness of our sensory capabilities. Needless to say, I believe Victor’s annoyance at the ‘Pictures Under Glass’ world is very understandable and even justified. This might sound like a claim coming from an angry old boomer, but I genuinely believe most people in today’s world (unless they make the effort to seek it) have extremely limited haptic experiences. We live in an era where the current technology renders our haptic system obsolete. I’d even say that this lack is felt to some capacity in individuals, as you often find people gravitating to objects that are old-fashioned, or even cumbersome, just for the vibes or the aesthetic. Mechanical keyboards, polaroid and film cameras, and even flip-phones. This is because humans were inherently made to touch and feel.
In his follow up, Victor also brings up a point about how using touch-screens is easy because they have been dumbed down enough to be used by toddlers. He says that adults deserve “so much more”, implying that multimodal experiences need to be made for adults. However, I find it important to point out that any sort of primitive interactive can be performed by a child – it’s just that in this day and age, pictures under the glass are all we have. Children deserve more as well, and there should be research on technology as such.