PC 2 Essay

The Energizer Suit is an installation made for people who suffer from seasonal affecting disorder to give them the daily sun energy they want. If you spent your time inside the cocoon of the construction it emits artificial sunlight onto you so you can boost yourself up for the day.

The same object was shown in one of Erik’s classes (Social Technologies). He than described it as one of the newer versions of the “bubble design” concepts. He meant by that it used to be fashion to make installations that let yourself as human be alone and excluded from the world. Like the floating devices and the inflatable cocoons for in airports and such.

The Energizer Suit isn’t really technical in the way that there is a complex interface (be it visible or invisible) operated by a human. What offcourse makes us ask if this thing is closely related to Physical Computing and/or Interaction Design. Well this is a thing that I can’t really give a clear answer to either. I think it’s something that can be “tagged” as Physical Computing for certain. And even more if you think about the PC2 theme of this year: Personal Technologies.

The suit is namely a technology for a person, that gives the person an advantage of using it. The advantage is indeed not a functional advantage for the body but it’s a personal innerself advantage.

A topic I like to discuss in the group on Thursday is the question if something that can be tagged with Physical Computing if it’s automatically tagged with Interaction Design. Because I can’t really place this Energizer Suit somewhere in the story Simon told the first graders in his introduction to what Interaction Design is. I am just concerned about this as a non full-time Interaction Designer and it’s hard for me to sometimes label things as IDK or not.

The actual reason I choose this article is because one of my text that I had to read. I had to read Cabinet thoroughly. Cabinet is actually a quarterly of art and culture, a magazine be it so. We had to read two articles of it: “The Clinical Orgasm” by Rachel P. Maines and “Appliance Theory” by Jennifer Gabrys.

And the first one is very similar to the Energizer Suit. The Clinical Orgasm is a text stating how the vibrator is one of the first common electrical devices in America. This text was written to ban the laws in some states that make it illegal to buy sex toys or owning more than five.

The text actually states how the vibrator was introduced as a clinical thing to help woman get orgasms. And how it was really recommended for them to get a normal sex life if they were diagnosed with the now already abolished term: hysteria. So a vibrator actually originates from the idea of helping people with problems in their sex life. If they were diagnosed with hysteria, the doctors of those day recommended to stimulate the genitalia expressively during love play. A bit in a way how doctors of today have to diagnose a thing called winter blues. Mostly doctors nowadays give them energy pills or a shot. In a way they could subscribe them some sessions in the Energizer Suit.

Lovely to actually conclude that the vibrator actually could be on of the first personal technologies artifact!