(ENG) A candy machine where you pay with data and a robot hand to hug grandma: do you want that?
AD.nl published an article about a couple of projects shown at Manifestations during Dutch Design Weekend. My project ‘Future Affair’ is mentioned too. I particularly like the writer’s interpretation. I translated this from Dutch “We spend hours on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram and don’t have to pay anything for it. But is it really free? At the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, visitors were made to think about technology. For example, would you like to stroke your grandmother’s hand remotely with the help of a robotic hand?” Funny enough, I never asked my own grandma who is living alone in Romania, if she would like to try it. Maybe in the future!
“The question is to what extent we want to digitize care, says Laura A Dima. She developed an installation with which you can caress another person remotely with a heated robotic hand. It feels real. To the left there is a hub with an object and a screen. By touching the object, the robot hand on the right starts to move, without the two users seeing each other. “I want people to think: do you want this? It has disadvantages and advantages. This way you can touch lonely family members who live at a distance. But do we want to replace human contact with this?”
– My apologies for the poor translation.