Connecting Bodies Through Tech

Every day, we send and receive a wealth of digital information through our bodies. We obsessively touch our phone screens, and are rewarded with a constant stream of data, audio and video content; Facial expressions and fingerprints serve to identify us; Fitness bands track our movements, our heart rate and how many hours of sleep we had last night.

But take that a step further and imagine having tiny implants which connect your internal responses, not only to machines, but plug in directly to the sensations of other people. It would, quite literally, take the concept of intimacy to a whole new level, creating a so-called ‘Internet of Bodies’ — an evocative phrase coined by Ghislaine Boddington several years ago.

“I’ve been working with ‘body technologies since the late 80s. Things like motion capture, robotics, wearables, virtual world and avatars.” she tells me “I’m particularly interested in exploring how technology can develop to complement us rather than being just a set of gizmos. I see a convergence over the next 10–15 years between technologies of the body and our emotional selves which are going to give us much deeper experiences and a more enhanced scenario for love, passion, joy and…