If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if your eyes were on the sides of your head in an insect-like fashion instead of facing forward, EYESECT can provide the answer.
The wearable, interactive installation — created in 2013 by THE CONSTITUTE team of Sebastian Piatza and Christian Zöllner — takes the form of a helmet-like device you place over your head.Detachable, hand-held camera ‘eyes’ provide the sensory input, which the wearer maps into a new spatial awareness otherwise impossible for human biology. Any outside observers will be unable to see the wearer’s face in the amorphous, globular helmet, and instead will be looking at distorted reflections of themselves in the metal coating. EYESECT is a strange invention that manages to change sensory perception for any user.
While it might be disorienting, it’s also entertaining, thought-provoking and futuristic — a rather successful combination. We may never know if it really gives us the perspective of an insect, but any kind of different perspective is useful for learning.