Alice Stewart
@alicestew.art
Intimate Hardware
From The New Everyday Life residency with Are.na and SPACE10.
Together apart, we find alternative ways for the hug of tomorrow
Intimate Hardware is an internet-connected jewellery device to be worn at home. Its function is to heat up when it is worn on the body, enabling an exchange of thermal energy between users.
The hardware is designed so that any human can build it with simple tools to suit their own unique needs. Each module, a prefabricated printed circuit board, acts as a point of stimulation on the body, tapping into areas that respond positively to stimulation.
Thermochromic elements change colour when heated, enabling visual as well as physical stimulation. Each of these devices has the capability to connect to others through an internet-connected chip on the control board. This means that we can hug each other, or at least exchange some therapeutic thermal energy, when we’re apart.
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