Takehito Etani-  Masticator

The masticator is part of Takehito Etani’s (apparently a former CMU grad!) spiritual prosthetics series. “Masticator is a headgear with custommade electronics that gives audio visual feedback of chewing during meals. At each chew the device beeps and counts the chewing on the LED digital display. The number loops between 0 to 9 and does not add up.”(takehitoetani.com) He used a technology developed specifically for the project called the MAST-I system. It connects a button to the masseter muscle which then presses the button when the teeth bite.

For me, this piece is interesting in that it uses the body and the natural mechanisms of the body to interact with an engineered system. Also, I think it is very interesting astetically. However, I wish the artist provided more insight into why he chose to create this particular system- why mastication? Still, it is a beautiful form.

Stephanie Sandstrom- EPA Dress

In this piece, Stephanie Sandstrom created a dress which responds to the pollution in the air. When there is a higher air pollution content, the dress wrinkles. ” Stephanie Sandstrom’s EPA Dress is currently on view in the San Francisco Exploratorium responds to bad air – and that’s not all, it cleverly creates the wrinkles to prove it! Looking crumpled and tired may no longer be an indicator of a late night out, but rather an intelligent way of interpreting your surroundings as well as detecting lurking health hazards.” (inhabitat.com)

I found the simplicity of this piece nice, it is both a valid way of shifting a person’s experience of the space (their air) and a clear streamlined execution.

Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson- Massage Me

In this collaborative piece made by Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner Wilson, a hacked Playstation Controller is used to create a vest which allows the players to control a video game. By giving a person wearing the vest a massage, the second player is able to interact with the screen. “Playing Massage me requires two people, one who wears the jacket to receive the massage and one who massages the person wearing the jacket. Soft flexible buttons are embedded in back of the jacket so that wearing it turns your back into a gamepad. All you need to do is to sit or lay down in front of a video game player and you will be able to enjoy a back massage while the game lasts.” (www.massage-me.at)

I was interested in this project due to the tactile quality of the interaction and the subverting of the notion of a video game which is usually entirely screen-based interaction between people to forcing a physical interaction.