SaveYourSelf!!!

2007

Hideyuki Ando (JP)
Tomofumi Yoshida (JP)
Junji Watanabe (JP)

Think that nothing can make you lose your equilibrium? Then it’s time for you to try “SaveYourSelf!!!”

You start by using a digital camera to take a self-portrait and then loading to a compact display floating in a bowl of water. Now, all you have to do is put on a set of headphones with a built-in electrode, pick up the bowl of water, and the action gets underway. The motion of the water is transmitted directly to your body.

The compact display features an integrated acceleration sensor that measures shifts of the water surface and sends the data to the electrode in the headphones. It emits a low-voltage current that stimulates the portion of the inner ear that regulates the sense of balance.

A novel sensory interface based on galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) was developed for “SaveYourSelf!!!” Similar procedures are employed in medical tests investigating how well a person’s sense of balance functions. Even a very weak electric current (less than ~1.5mA) can disturb the feeling of equilibrium.

An Infortrainer must be present when a visitor uses “SaveYourSelf!!!”