Empower Young Designers' Journey to Conference in Vancouver

Hi, you. Trying to dodge my determined stare? We need your help to support three aspiring young designers to take a big step in advancing our creative journey in Vancouver.

My name is Tsing, and I'm an overachiever struggling with anxiety. In the most excitedly shaky voice you could imagine, I have exciting news to share with you—my team was accepted into the SIGGRAPH conference in Vancouver this year!

"SIGGRAPH is the international Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)'s Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques."

While we are so thrilled by the opportunity to present at one of the world’s most prestigious conferences and publish our work in the ACM Digital Library, we realized that our acceptance is dependent on attending and presenting the work in person, from August 11–13, 2025...

So what is our project about?

I would like to invite you to imagine if, during moments of heightened anxiety, you could once again feel the gentle, familiar touch of a loved one’s hand. Stroke Imprint is a knitted wearable that simulates stroking sensations to comfort young women experiencing anxiety through pressure sensing and shape-memory-alloy-based actuation. Paired with a digital interface, the glove allows users to record personalized tactile sensations.

What inspired the project?

I'm an anxious girl in my mid-20s. I long for independence and self-sufficiency, but being away from my loved ones triggers anxiety that can strike anytime. I know nothing would ever replace the warmth, intimacy, and comfort of human touch. But what if human touch is not always readily available?

I started with my precedents research and user interviews. After two rounds of prototyping, we designed this therapeutic tool that allows our target user group to self-soothe anxiety and remind them of the tangible presence of their support system even in their absence.

Who are you supporting exactly?

We are a team of three graduate students at Parsons School of Design:

Here is a photo of Rin, Donna, and Tsing (from left to right) on a community virtual beach trip.

What is the breakdown of cost?

Since our team of three is required to present our work from August 11–13:

Wait, doesn’t your school cover this?

You’d think so, right? We’ve knocked on all the doors—professors’ research funds, the dean’s office, even scoured the leftovers from last fiscal year’s budget buffet. The only remaining option is a travel fund maybe available in the fall, but we’re hoping to save that for turning this into a full research paper.

That said, we’re incredibly grateful for the steady support and mentorship our academic community has offered us throughout the early stages of this project—we truly wouldn’t be here without them.

So here we are, staring at you (kindly), and asking for your help.

Your contribution is supporting our dream!

Your support helps us share our work with an international audience, gain critical feedback for our thesis projects, and plant the seeds for future full-paper research.

Your support reverses the curse of anxiety. It helps me turn that struggle into a source of inspiration and healing for many, many more young women just like me—prone to anxiety and having a limited emotional support system.

We’re endlessly grateful for any contribution you can make. Every donation, every share brings us closer to Vancouver—and closer to making an impact.

Sincerely (and anxiously),

Tsing