speculative machinery (ongoing series)
by Sara Hendren on 02/01/10 at 12:11 pm
I’m looking for collaborators to propose new tools—speculative machines—that invert or transform or exaggerate an adaptive aid that already exists.
If you currently use some piece of equipment—hearing aid, wheelchair, anything—and have a machine you’d like to dream up, contact me (sara at sarahendren dot com). I’m interested in designing machines that reveal something about human experience that’s unexpected: what it’s like to use the aid that might currently be invisible, how a similar aid for an able-bodied person would serve some other purpose, some imagined tool that has yet to appear.
Here’s a first design: a posterior walker for mobility or stability help. This model is of clear lucite, making its user more visible than the tool. It has detachable tandem grips on the back, for sharing the experience, and it’s got sensitive grips on the main body, connected to a LED display. The display would monitor the relative effort and energy required to maintain normal balance and propel oneself forward—measures, in other words, that suggest things about relative dependence and independence.
Top image is a Dutch acoustic listening device, created between WWI and WWII for air defense purposes. Here’s the link to more. (Thanks, design blogger Swiss Miss, for pointing me there.)
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Kevin
Jan 2nd, 2010
Sara, this comment is only dimly related, but I’ve been struck by how easily movie audiences seem to have taken to using 3D glasses again, with the recent return of 3D to cinema (Up, Coraline, Avatar, U23D, Miley Cyrus, etc). I was sitting in a midday screening of Avatar last week, where the age-group was higher than one typically encounters in cinemas these days. When the screen instructed us to put on our glasses, we all saw a slight change in dimensionality that resulted in collective “oh!”s and ahhs. There seems to be some promise in the group exercise of what would otherwise seem too awkward an interface….also, maybe doing it in the dark helps.
Lynn Bennett Carpenter
Jan 2nd, 2010
Hey Sara,
Have you seen the work of Lygia Clark? Her career follows an incredible evolution starting as a minimalist sculpture to creating her own psychological treatments for the mentally ill. Amongst her works are suits that look like astronauts, but are created with the purpose of creating touch experiences. In the end, she was more interested in using her creations for therapeutic purposes rather than aesthetic ones.
In your collaboration, I also think of safety gear like air bags, helmets etc. that redefine our experiences of danger and thrill seeking.
Lynn
Sara Hendren
Jan 2nd, 2010
Thanks, you two. A lot to think about with that, Kevin, so I’m glad you posted. (Brian remarked that he could have done without the distraction of the glasses, and he really liked the movie.) And Lynn, no, I don’t know Clark’s work, but I’ll go find it now. Thanks!