Haptic Lab

About Us

About Us

hap • tic: referring to the sense of touch 

Haptic Lab is an interdisciplinary design studio founded by Brooklyn architect Emily Fischer in 2009. Specializing in tactile and sensory design, our custom handmade objects and spaces are designed to playfully explore the sense of touch and feel. Emily made her first quilted maps when her mother was diagnosed with glaucoma; these early projects were meant to be wayfinding tools for the visually impaired.

Haptic designs counter the rapid digitization of our lives by privileging the real, physical world our bodies occupy. Like a cane that safely guides someone down the sidewalk, our projects serve as tools for sensation. We make intricate quilts, kites, furniture, and environments that combine new technologies with traditional craft techniques -- infusing a sense of play and timelessness into everything we make.  

The Haptic Lab team is comprised of a small group of craft artisans, designers and tinkerers. Drawing upon our diverse creative skill sets, we seek to change the world of producing goods to bring about transparency, simplicity, sustainability and consciousness.  

Quilts • Kites  Architecture  Public Art Installations

@hapticlab for the fun stuff