Vir Joseph Naidu
is a creative multidisciplinary, human-centric industrial designer.

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  1. technocene
  2. VIA 
  3. S-Orb
  4. hum-en
  5. GONZO
Three Eleven
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©2024 VirJNaidu 

technocene

Soft Robotic Communication Modality
+ Master’s Thesis Project
+ Guided by Jess Brown, Sam Sheffer, Fran Slutsky, and Ayako Takase
+ Robotics, Computation, Material Science, 3D, Bio-Design
+ Arduino, Rhino3D, Adobe Photoshop 

Showcased at the RISD Graduate Show 2024 at the Rhode Island Convention Center

Full Thesis Book and Case Studies



Technocene endeavors to reimagine the human experience by probing the boundaries of possibility, wherein all beings are equipped with an extension of the human body (chimera) that serves as a modality of communication. Using wearable soft robotics, chimera, fosters connection and communication by translating emotions into tangible outputs. Challenging conventional notions of self-presentation, it catalyzes introspection and extrospection. These robotic augmentations mimic biological responses, creating a shared language and visible expressions of our inner states. By embodying emotions externally, Technocene explores how this impacts human connections - creating a sense of dynamism and collectivism that transcends isolation by fostering intrinsic links among people.



It comments on the curtailing of human-to-human connection, and the lack of vulnerability within our current context - a state guided by social media and the digital sphere. It proposes a landscape where we let go of self-preservation and adopt co-regulatory practices. Would we be more likely to engage with individuals who are experiencing a certain emotion - when it is at the forefront of our perception? Conversely, how can this hyper-vulnerability change our relationship with ourselves, and possibly our core community?




Chimera helps you tune into other’s emotional frequencies, by bearing emotion outwards - moving away from isolation. It creates an explicit showcase of one's internalized being and provides an opportunity to engage, even if systemically we have reached our saturation point, a situation in which expression cannot be ignored, providing the viewer the ability to practice and engage their empathy.





A bird and its hackles, a puffer fish and its spines, a dog and its tail - animals possess bio-responses that communicate their internal state. It is something overt, visual, and cutting. Even without a stream of language between us and other organisms, we can decode their vernacular. With chimera, I am creating an overt biomorphic response to human emotion, as a means to create a stimulus to attract attention. It is an external emotional muscle that can grow, strengthen, and adapt to you.


As a species, we all have the same basic emotions, which are happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger. The emotions through evolution, like animals, are there to protect us. As we grow up each of these emotions begins to split and subcategorize into more nuanced emotions. Chimera reflects the five basic emotions by having five separate chambers. Each chamber represents a specific emotion. Creating a new visual and tangible language. Like the primary colors - these primary emotions are the elemental unit of more complex emotions. Since human emotion is nuanced, oftentimes a combination of the basic emotion - multiple chambers may inflate at once. The degree of the augmentations inflation shows the level of the emotional response. This gives chimera the ability to effectively represent your internal state and allows viewers to accurately engage.

The artifact is a programmable inflatable, it uses codable air pumps to control inflation. The air pumps respond to the participant's brain activity (through an EEG) and muscle movement (through the EMG). The two sensors act as the variables to discern the emotion of the individual which then triggers the specific chambers to inflate.



With chimera I am creating an agitator; something that is atmospheric and causes some form of disruption. I have defined an agitator, within the context of my project, as an artifact/s that can cause a disturbance (positive, negative, or neutral) within the context it is deployed. In the case of technocene, the agitator is the embodiment of the artifact and the disturbance caused by its existence. It takes something simple like human interaction and bubbles it to the forefront, by overtly changing how we interact with ourselves and those around us. Creating a circumstance that is unimaginable within our current space, thereby using shock, intrigue, curiosity, and vulnerability to generate a response.


Through this journey, I analyzed how chimera catalyzed interpersonal interactions. Its implementation revealed how people responded to specific scenarios in a one-on-one context. People expressed a sense of comfort and reassurance when augmented, as it acted as an icebreaker, accelerating conversations and resolutions by offering outward indicators of their emotional state. Unexpectedly, I discovered that chimera's reactions, particularly its inflation and ballooning, were humorous to some individuals, thereby diffusing tension within the context. By focusing attention on the person with whom they were interacting, similar to a horse with blinders, chimera facilitated mutual understanding and effective communication within the space it occupied. Chimera’s form affected individuals as well, with some feeling a sense of hiddenness or anonymity that encouraged greater transparency in their conversations and interactions. In essence, the exploration of technocene has revealed the power of vulnerability and communication in fostering meaningful connections among individuals.


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