Empathy Vest
Developed February - May 2004

The Empathy Vest focused on the use of simple technologies to facilitate an embodied experience of remote space and place. PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) Microprocessors were investigated as a means of controlling the inputs and outputs in the garment. PLC's are a type of microprocessor with input/output based circuitry that are most commonly used in buildings to control lights, heating and air-conditioning, and security services.

The primary question that motivated the development of this garment was whether it was possible to have a sense of ‘ being there' without physically being present. The resulting prototype dealt with a series of input signals that were mapped onto the body in a variety of ways. The informational stimulus from the input channels, two touch sensors and one voice relay sensor, was mapped onto the body through the output modes – 4 x light channels and 1 x fan. The project questioned whether through the physical sensing of stimulus from a remote environment (light, wind, sound etc.) the user might, in turn, experience profound psychological change.

From a design perspective the Empathy Vest was a bulky solution utilising a backboard mounted computing system with a polypropylene over jacket. Whilst a useful prototype for establishing certain technological issues, the garment lacks the design refinement of later prototypes, developed in collaboration with a fashion designer.

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