Lonely Girl Invents a "Talk to Me" Mask

The image above is a "Talk to Me" mask. The eye covers have mirrors so that you can look at yourself. As well, the mouthpiece has a channel directly to your ear so that you can more easily talk to yourself. As a result, this device is designed to keep you from being lonely. And this is only one of three devices Sohui Won has created in attempt to help people keep themselves company.

Sohui Won, an industrial designer from Korea, calls these "design interactions". A former GUI designer for Samsung, Ms. Won has turned her attention towards teaching fine art at the Royal College of Art. Since then, she has participated in a project called Weird Objects for Weird Users addressing the issue of loneliness.

This project addresses the issue of loneliness. Everyone has experienced loneliness in everyday life. It is very ordinary but it could bring serious problems and destroying the quality of life. There are many people who suffer from Autophobia (the fear of being alone). They feel extreme pain when alone, emotionally as well as physically. But they will have to be alone in everyday life. Here are some design proposals -- objects to enjoy the worst moment for Autophobics and the rest of us who are also potential patients.

Design Interactions, ‘Weird objects for weird users?’

Funny enough, my immediate thought upon viewing this invention is to think, "Well, this is what happens when you immerse an industrial designer amongst post-modern literati." You see, while I think the inventions, in and of themselves, are neat — she wanted them to be weird and they are consequently weird. Not weird in the sense that they are "edgy" and "extreme", but weird in the sense of imagining Bill Gates as the protagonist of an Ingmar Bergmann film. And perhaps that's a good thing.

In any sense, if blogging ever begins to bore me, at least I can build myself a "talk to me" mask.

Your Ad Here