Minette Mangahas
Poram Lee
Sebastian Buys

Hither

We were inspired to simulate the sensation of pushing with a robotic hand that would respond to touch.

Classes
For Reals: Technology and the Illusion of Authenticity


The genesis for this project is the Physical Computing final that Sebastian created in 2009, which strove to simulate the exercise of “Pushing Hands” in tai chi. His mother had practiced tai chi until receiving elbow surgery. It that project, there was no touch as part of the interaction. For this project, we were inspired to simulate the sensation of pushing hands with a robotic hand that would respond to touch. We also wanted to integrate a playful or surprising component to the piece. We want to see whether it would be possible to design a piece that would accomplish the ability to entice a viewer to come closer, to interact with the offered hand and provide a sense of fun and wonder to the participant.

Audience
Broadly - general adult population.