Björn Franke News | Projects | Research | Teaching | Biography
Affective Sensory Extensions | 2006 Mixed Media | 3 Objects 123/35/21 | 1 Film 4:08 min HDV »Affective Sensory Extensions« is a short film and collection of three wearable interfaces that monitor health-related information concerning the user’s body. The devices create an immediate and tangible experience by anticipating the long-term consequences of the user’s behaviour. Rather than displaying the information as abstract data, the devices transform them into tangible and unpleasant consequences by using the body itself as a display. The »Stressed« device measures the user’s stress level through galvanic skin response. After an initial phase of adaptation, an increase in the stress level results in an unpleasant scratching of the skin with a metal comb. Upon being further stressed, and thus aware of the risen stress level, the user has to relax in order to stop the scratching. The »Sunburned« device measures UV radiation in relation to the time of exposure. If the exposure reaches an unhealthy level, the device evokes an artificial sunburn by heating up a metal plate on the user’s skin. By creating an immediate sensation of the long-term consequences of the sun’s radiation, the user has to leave the sun to stop the burning. The »Cramped« device monitors the user’s posture and frequency of movement with an accelerometer. If the user remains in any one position for too long, it induces a cramp through electronic muscle stimulation, forcing the user to adapt a healthy posture or to change positions more frequently.
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