The Alien Between Us is an interactive installation that allows two individuals to experience each other's bodily signals (heartbeat, breathing and temperature) through wearable sculptures. Rooted in a technofeminist and queer psychoanalytical framework, the work aims to create a space where traditional social constructs dissolve, allowing participants to connect through sensation rather than appearance or assumption.
My project explores the idea of intimacy through separation and the existence of some sort of bodily empathy. My set-up includes two identical stations featuring twin haptic devices or sculptures which live stream and simulate the physiological data from one visitor to the other, thus creating a channel for affective communication between remote participants. By transmitting biometric signals such as heartbeat, breathing patterns and temperature, the installation facilitates an emotional feedback loop, encouraging participants to resonate with and react to one another's physical presence without direct human contact.
The sculpture is designed to resemble an extra organ or an alien creature which people can hold or wear on their chest. The sculptures get activated by the presence of the visitor and then start live streaming data to the other device, which also responds to their touch by showing signs of arousal.
Lastly, the sculptures play a symbolic role in representing the Other as a concept, and the installation encourages visitors to develop a sense of responsibility. Defensive mechanisms are employed when abuse is detected; visitors are guided on how to care for one another and this technology as their mediator.
