Digitalizing Intimacy
“To rethink intimacy is to appraise how we have been and how we live and how we might imagine lives that make more sense than the ones so many are living.”
Research
My investigation of intimacy uses technology as a medium to examine how individuals emotionally relate with themselves and “others” (broadly conceived) and how this emotional resonance comes to transform the way we engage with our [physical/digital] surroundings. I am interested in understanding how our emotional lives are mediated through our relationship with technology and to use this understanding to consider how we can be more thoughtful when designing technology for use today and in the future. My expertise in empirically investigating empathy using the methods from psychology and neurosciences enables me to offer specialized insights into these emotional engagements we develop: what it means to be intimate, not only at the spatial level in how we physically interact, but also mentally.
Applied Design
Intimacy Workshop with designers and artists
My intimacy workshop which I have developed and administered to various groups, helps individuals comprehend the role intimacy plays in shaping social behaviors and emotions. I provide case studies of how to apply these insights to design interactive technologies and artworks which can promote intimacy and emotional wellbeing. Participants are an active part of the workshop and are encouraged to translate the knowledge gained from the workshop into their own design and artistic practices.
Images from Intimacy Workshop at Kunsthochschule Kassel invited by Prof. Bjørn Melhus
