NANOTOPIA / Michael Burton

Utopia for who?

Nanotechnology promises a utopian vision as a result of our future capability of manipulating the world around us on a nanoscale. As presented by Professor Richard Jones, author of Soft Machines: nanotechnology and life, the true potential of this new technology is when it is fused with organic living systems, like viruses, cellular automata and self-replication.

If our production methods shift to simulate organic self-replication what will happen to the global socio-economic balance? How will the gap between rich and poor be affected? How will people dependent on income from manual production survive?

With these questions as a premise, nanotopia presents a future vision for people at the extremities of the social classes. The project references how people currently use their bodies as a last resort, to sell their hair, blood and kidneys. Nanotopia then envisions a future where the poorest utilise new possibilities of fusing nanotechnology and the body as real-estate. In reaction to this use of the body, the film also visualises the changes in bodily aesthetics within the upper classes.

Source: http://www.michael-burton.co.uk/index2.htm

sixth sense

'SixthSense' is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information. By using a camera and a tiny projector mounted in a pendant like wearable device, 'SixthSense' sees what you see and visually augments any surfaces or objects we are interacting with. It projects information onto surfaces, walls, and physical objects around us, and lets us interact with the projected information through natural hand gestures, arm movements, or our interaction with the object itself. 'SixthSense' attempts to free information from its confines by seamlessly integrating it with reality, and thus making the entire world your computer.

'SixthSense' website

SNIFFING OTHERS PROJECT / SUSANA SOARES

Smell augmentation

In humans the vomeronasal organ, used to detect pheromones, regresses as we leave childhood, but if stimulated could become active again. Smell augmentation using a sensory nanoparticles interface stimulates the vomeronasal organ and transmits body odour information, enabling precise pheromone recognition.

Nasal objects start to transform appearance and beauty concepts, Sniffing Others, New organs of perception, prototype.

Nose plugs

Illustration explaining how sensory interfaces can stimulate vomeronasal organ

Source : http://www.susanasoares.com/

Audio Tooth Implant / Auger-Loizeau

"The Audio Tooth Implant is a radical new concept in personal communication. A miniature audio output device and receiver are implanted into the tooth during routine dental surgery. These offer a form of electronic telepathy as the sound information resonates directly into the consciousness.

The tooth implant consists of 3 separate elements.

• A low frequency receiver (150kHz).

• A piezo electric micro vibration device.

• An electro magnetic micro generator."

Source : http://www.auger-loizeau.com/

Perception augmentée

en considérant toutes les technologies (visuelles, sonores, et globalement sensorielles) permettant de superposer à la réalité une information immatérielle, à quoi ressemblera notre environnement dans son usage et ses multiples niveaux de lecture ?