Perception VR Studio: Tangible and Soft Interfaces for Embodied Cognition Exploring Material Cognition through Air, Heat, Softness, and Scent in VR Environments

This full-day studio investigates how tangible and soft interfaces can serve as cognitive companions in virtual environments. Rather than optimizing usability or learning outcomes, the workshop explores how perception itself can become a material for reflection and thought. Participants will design and test multisensory interfaces—airflow, heat, softness, and scent-diffusion elements—integrated into a VR escape-room framework. These sensory interventions aim not to enhance performance but to reveal the reciprocity between body and cognition. By treating VR as an embodied instrument rather than a display, Perception VR Studio invites participants to examine how airflow, temperature, and scent modulate attention, emotion, and reflective learning. The goal is to prototype new forms of perceptual scaffolding that make cognition tangible—something one can sense, breathe, and feel.