This is a manifesto about our constant need of each other. In this political moment in the world where policies and speeches are reinforcing the superiority of dominant groups, white supremacy, and prejudice against immigrants, this piece aims to convince, in a very analogical way, the existence of others and the need of communication to survive. 
This device obstructs the primary senses of communication: seeing, hearing and touching. The lenses on the goggles magnify the wearer’s view so that his/her surrounding becomes almost unrecognizable; the goggle continuously emits a fast-paced beeping sound near the wearer’s ears that only goes away when a wearer finds the other wearer; the wearers hold a battery pack while they’re interacting. Thus they cannot use their hands to locate the other person, resulting in constant contact with two people’s personal spaces but never merging them.
The sensors located near the user's’ eyes on the goggles activate when the wearers make “eye contact” with each other, doing so, the sensors on the two goggles match up and emit musical notes rather than the beeping sound. To locate oneself and to make sense of one’s surrounding again, the wearers need to find and interact with each other. Finding and making “eye contact” with the other wearer then becomes a temporary relief from the blurry world. Since the wearers have to adjust their position to maintain eye contact continuously, the social hierarchy present in everyday interaction is temporarily relieved because the users can take on the simple identity of the user and focus on the goal of making sounds.

Jesung Lee, Daniel Shieh, Ana Luiza Ador

Year : 2017
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