Eric Siu is the Hong Kong-based new-media artist behind “Touchy”, a human art project that aims to questions whether our umbilical relationship to technology will destroy our ability to maintain fulfilling human connections.
Siu designed the Touchy camera-helmet to respond to human touch by opening its two shutters, allowing the person wearing it to see out through the lenses. 10 seconds of sustained human-to-human physical contact triggers the camera to snap a picture, which is then displayed on the back of the helmet.
By enclosing a person inside a human-sized gadgety shell, they are effectively consumed, literally overtake by technology. The effect of human touch Siu programmed into the project, then, is a metaphor manifest outward for the powerful nature of human relationships, and their significance in forming lasting memories (hence the pictures captured on the back of the hat). [CNet, TouchyTouchy]
