Imagine wearing a book. Imagine the characters in that book asserting their emotions onto you physically, from triumph to tragedy. When they’re sad, you feel sad. When they’re cold, you’re shivering, and so on… Vice reports that MIT’s Media Lab has created a prototype for a “sensory fiction” device that will mimic what the characters in a book are feeling.
According to Vice:
Is the protagonist depressed? One hundred LED lights on the book cover will adjust to create ambient lighting to reflect the mood. Scared? Air pressure bags in the wearable vest will make it constrict and feel tighter. Excited? Vibration patterns that influence your heart rate can make it beat faster. Embarrassed? A heating device on the vest changes the temperature of your skin.
Creepy? You bet! But also kind of interesting if done carefully and artfully. Take a look at the video which quickly details the device in use as the reader works through a James Tiptree, Jr. story.
