Ether Beat
2004 - 2006

‘Ether Beat' encompasses a range of compatible garments that sense, process, transmit and receive the ECG wavelength. The collection is made up of two sets of garments. Each set comprises: a singlet (Under Beat) that houses the ECG electrodes and which connects to either of the outer garments: Ether Scarf, a scarf, or Ether Beat, a blouse. The under garments are enabled with ECG sensors and processing equipment while the outer garments house signal processing equipment, small vibration motors, and radio transceivers. The effect provided by the garments is of the heartbeat wavelength of your remote friend/lover/relative being received as vibration through your garment. Conceptually, the motivation for the project is two-fold: to question whether usage of the apparatus will encourage physiological empathy - the moderation of ones heartbeat to syncopate with that of the remote other; and emotional empathy - the establishment of a remote emotional linkage.

The garments utilise simple technologies, which have been ‘rejigged' to suit the prototype, combined with specifically designed processing equipment. From a design perspective, the challenge has been to utilise the structure of the requisite technologies to inform the development of the apparel, rather than retrofitting an existing garment. Thus, they have been drafted from the initial stages using traditional construction techniques in non-traditional ways to accommodate electronic pathways, processing equipment, and battery power.