project2 （machine） — haiyun-portfolio

Project2 -- Machine

The second project explores the relationship between robots and humans.

With the development of society, the division of labour has become increasingly detailed, especially in modern mass production, where people repeat the same actions every day — tightening the same screws and connecting wires in the same way, much like the workers portrayed in Modern Times. As a result, people have placed great hope in robots, expecting them to replace humans in completing boring, monotonous, repetitive, and dangerous work. However, replacing human labour with machines for greater efficiency also leads to the gradual loss of the abilities humans originally had to work, contribute, and participate in society without machines. At the same time, machines begin to take on more important roles, while humans are gradually marginalised. This project imagines a world in which machines are increasingly used to replace people, and asks whether allowing machines to replace humans truly achieves de-anthropocentrism, or whether it simply produces another form of human self-erasure.

Research

This project begins with research into brain–computer interfaces (BCI/BMI) and the plasticity of the human body. Drawing on experiments such as the Third Thumb Project developed at University College London, it explores how humans can control external devices through intention and neural activity, extending the body beyond its natural limits. In these studies, participants were given an additional “sixth finger”, enabling them to perform tasks beyond the capability of five fingers. The brain quickly adapted, integrating the new limb into its sensorimotor system as if it had always been part of the body.

However, as suggested by research in neuroplasticity and phantom limb theory, this adaptation also reveals a shift. As the brain reorganises to accommodate the additional limb, the original fingers begin to lose their distinct roles. Even after the artificial limb is removed, the brain continues to register its presence, suggesting a lingering neural imprint. This phenomenon relates to phantom limb syndrome, where individuals continue to feel sensations from a limb that no longer exists, often explored through techniques such as mirror therapy. Together, these references suggest that the body is not fixed, but continuously reshaped through its interaction with technology, perception, and neural adaptation.

Garment Pattern Transformation

Building on this research, the design translates these ideas into garment construction. The methodology is informed by mirror-based experiments, where the perception of the body is altered through reflection and visual substitution. Instead of directly replicating anatomical structures, the garment is developed through the transformation of pattern cutting. By manipulating panels through reflection, displacement, and duplication, the construction begins to simulate an extended or reconfigured body. The resulting forms do not simply follow the original anatomy, but suggest a body that is reorganised, augmented, and partially misaligned — echoing the unstable relationship between perception, memory, and physical presence explored in the research.

Through mirror therapy, the brain is deceived — illusion becomes the cure for illusion.

The mirror is understood as a form of mechanical prosthesis, where the reflected image functions like an external limb — moving in synchrony with the body while remaining separate from it. Drawing on phantom limb theory, the experiment uses the mirror to deceive the brain, generating the illusion of additional limbs and encouraging reliance on them. At the same time, the mirror also has the capacity to erase the body: by manipulating reflection, certain parts can disappear, suggesting that an over-dependence on these mediated extensions may gradually weaken or replace the function of the original limbs.

Mechanical Structure Design

By introducing a modified exoskeleton, the direction and flow of forces are reconfigured, allowing the robotic upper limbs to take on part of the body’s load. Based on this shift, sketches were developed to map the approximate positions and trajectories of force across the body.

Two structural approaches were explored in parallel: one drawing from the softness and continuity of skin, and the other from the rigidity and precision of mechanical systems. While the initial robotic arm attached to the shoulder leaned towards a more mechanical expression, the final design integrates both qualities. This results in a hybrid structure combining internal and external systems, where the robotic arm emerges as an extension shaped by both organic and mechanical logic.

Final Shoot

Designer: Haiyun Wu
Photography : Jiantao Gou
Makeup&Hair: Xiawei
Model: Yang Jiang
Art director: Haiyun Wu