When Touch Becomes a Language for Grief

Space for Grief is an immersive installation offering a non-verbal way to express grief. Participants squeeze a soft crocheted ball containing a pressure sensor. Their touch becomes pulses of light that connect with traces left by earlier visitors, forming a shared visual network.

Created by interaction designer Eva Barth as her final thesis at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, the project drew on more than 20 interviews and over 25 prototypes.

Why I saved this: I was drawn to how a simple tactile gesture becomes emotional communication when words feel inadequate.

For design students, it demonstrates the value of sensitive research, embodied interaction and repeated prototyping when addressing complex experiences.

Worth considering: How might your design help users communicate without asking them to explain everything verbally?

Try applying it: Translate one emotion in your project into a physical action or sensory signal.

Design themes: Interaction design, emotional design, physical prototyping, wellbeing

Explore the Space for Grief project