Core Tool: Multisensory Experiences
Overview
In this session, Adah describes the importance of designing for multi-sensory experiences, taking us step by step through how she designs for the five senses.
Tools: Multi-Sensory Experiences
Adah Parris, Forbes-Recognised Futurist | Revealing Clarity in Chaos | The Presence Lab Founder & Keynote Speaker | Wiley Author
How to Use this Tool
1. Focus on creating conditions for transformation, not controlling outcomes:
a. Design experiences that invite people to pause, notice, and feel
b. Engage multiple sensory channels beyond just intellectual understanding
2. Use a holistic sensory approach
a. Listen to the full sensory landscape (sounds, smells, textures, energy shifts)
b. Create experiences that connect people emotionally to their environment
c. Use a framework that considers different sensory elements (like the speaker's five elemental themes: ether, air, fire, water, earth)
3. Collaborative design process
a. Work with domain experts to bring in complementary perspectives
b. Maintain clear roles while remaining open to cross-pollination of ideas
c. Prototype and iterate experiences with participant feedback
4. Prioritize felt experience over intellectual learning
a. Start with sensations: "What do you hear? What do you feel?"
b. Allow personal discovery and unlearning
c. Create spaces for participants to connect differently with their environment
5. Design for embodied transformation
a. Use sensory experiences as a gateway to deeper connection
b. Invite participants to notice overlooked aspects of their surroundings
c. Create experiences that can change perception and behavior
The ultimate goal is to create visceral, personal experiences that spark transformation through sensory engagement.
Reflect
Reflect on the following question in your journal.
Explore More
Learn more about Adah and Earth Echoes' work:
Pilot Soundscape:
https://soundcloud.com/adahparris/entangled-imaginations-pilot-soundscape
Earth Echoes:
https://www.earthechoes.earth
Adah Parris:
https://www.adahparris.com/
Friends of the Earth Experiments team:
https://experiments.friendsoftheearth.uk
Interview with Adah about Earth Echoes:
https://experiments.friendsoftheearth.uk/blog/sound-key-collective-imagination


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