DESIGN INTERACTIONS
thesis
We are just animals after all
introduction
How much of the original animal that we once were is still "living" inside us? How much of it has been lost during the evolutionary process? How much of the animal world would we want to borrow, if we were given the right tools? My projects explore instinct, behaviour, abilities, augmentation, restriction, substitution or enhancement of human-human relationships driven by new technologies.
Experiment No.01: Alertness Enhancing Device
This project picks on how much today's people have detached themselves from their original animal inheritance. Which of our lost animal abilities do we miss and how would we try to regain them?
It is said that no other generation before has been as anxious and risk aware as ours. Other than animals, we aren't equipped for the challenges of contemporary living. We don't have the abilities to identify the real dangers in a surplus of potential threats and horror scenarios offered to us by mass media. We don't have the right instincts to tell threat from panicmongering.
This device is meant as a physical prosthesis for a lost or missing natural instinct for the real fears and dangers that threaten us – as opposed to perceived risks that often cause a public outrage.
Function
The device stimulates goosebumps and shivers that go down your spine through microcurrents resulting in your neck hair standing up. You will be more alert and ready for the real dangers in life. For the next prototype I plan to use much more sophisticated sensations such as somatosensory illusions...
weblog
... RANDOM THOUGHTS
2006-07 mail (--at--) susannahertrich (--dot--) com
