Installation, Intervention, iOS application

1 x Table (48”x 48”x 36”)
2 x Big Rocks (Marin Headlands)
3 x Small Rocks (Baker’s Beach)
1 x iPhone with Ekkos App (Apple iPhone 8)
2 x Acorns (Golden Gate Park)
1 x Feather (Bird - Unknown, Found at Rodeo Beach)
1 x Metal Folding Chair (Brand uLine)
1 x Video Recording Device (Canon 5D Mark III)
1 x Tripod (Manfrotto)

The Intervention
The participant is asked to spend 7 minutes in the test environment with no specific instructions. Participant behavior is observed and cataloged.

Ekkos is an iOS application with no visual interface. It turns the phone into a haptic echo chamber for the tap and swipe gestures on the screen. When the user first taps, the immediate haptic feedback affirms the detection of a gesture. The sequence of the gestures made on the screen are mirrored by the phone after a delay of 2 seconds using the haptic feedback.

Touch is both immediate and unmediated. Touch has no delay, no medium or “intervening substance” through which the stimulus travels between objects. Touch is the truth, identified with the real. Eyes and ears can be deceived, and taste is personal and subjective, but touch is proof. Today's mainstream technologies are well designed for rapid consumption of information and linear, sequential action. A side effect of their effectiveness to tasks, however, is a loss of undirected, curiosity-driven exploration in the world.