Summary

The second artifact in the scenario is a sensory stimulation therapy designed to help treat people with ecological grief and better enable them to cope with living their lives confined within their homes. The Touch Stones are small totems that encase various natural artifacts from the Intra-nature time period, which people treat as talisman that they collect and trade. Using the TruNatur app on their phone, they have access to sensory stimulation therapies including touch, visual, sound, and smell and can choose from various exercises or follow a treatment plan. To do an exercise the user connects their stone of choice to their device, which syncs to the app, and tailors each exercise to that specific stone, based on the natural artifact inside of it and its specific sensory qualities desired by the user. Once the exercise starts, users are advised to close their phone for optimal experience. This ensures that they focus their full attention on the auditory, olfactory, somatosensory, or optic stimulation experience curated by the device. Through sensory stimulation, interaction with the Touch Stones enables people to connect with nature in more natural, tangible, and immersive ways.