In a world where urbanisation is on the rise, spaces are becoming more dense but also increasingly isolating. Simultaneously, digital communication is prevalent, changing the nature of human interaction.
AURA is a provocative headpiece which senses your smile and spreads light across your face as your smile grows. This enhances its appearance and attracts the attention of people around you. AURA is a statement to others that you celebrate the power of your smile.
Using future casting tools, an array of research questions arose which questioned the future of humans in a dense and technology focused world. The project began to transform into a speculative piece of work with the aim of challenging some of the trends which alluded to a dystopian future- a future where humans disengage from the world around them.
AURA was designed to be subtle yet visible. A statement to the world around you that you embrace the power of your smile. Smiling, whether forced or genuine, releases ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitters in your brain. These include dopamine, endorphins and serotonin which calm your nervous system by lowering your heart rate and blood pressure.
AURA uses electromyography (EMG) sensors which sit along the zygomatic muscle (your smile muscle) to detect the wearers smile and an embedded camera senses the smiles of others around them and provides feedback through thermodynamic modules that expel heat, emulating the warm feeling a smile gives you.
AURA was designed and made by myself, Sarah Cronin Rodger, Larasati & Orfeo Nicolai
AURA was exhibited at the Royal College of Art in 2018
Celebrate your smile with AURA