'ripple' wearable extension uses sensory data to stir seduction

ever wondered what the future of dating would be like? four innovation design engineering students from the royal college of art have embarked on this quest by developing a wearable extension called ‘ripple’. surprisingly, the product can calculate who in a room is attracted to you and provides sensorial feedback once it finds someone. if attraction is mutual, its tentacles move in reaction to their gaze, amplifying the language of seduction. ‘ripple is an accessory that encourages the experience of courtship in daily life, by scanning your surroundings to work out who is attracted to you. ripple widens women’s perception by giving them physical sensations to point out who is showing interest in them. if the interest is mutual, it perceives these natural reactions and amplifies the flirtatious language by moving in response to the suitor’s gaze’, explains the group.

ripple is a wearable device that encourages the experience of courtship and seduction

unsatisfied that the world is moving towards a future immersed in virtual reality, huishan ma, jonathan rankin, lyle baumgarten and maria apud bell from the royal college of art want to encourage people to keep interacting in real life. to do so, they concentrated on reducing the vulnerability of first encounters. hence, ripple uses computer vision to determine interest and which builds upon one’s own intuition. from monitoring people’s behaviour in various social situations, the students have been able to classify attraction and embed the data into the wearable extension.

currently, ripple exists as two components that work like prototypes. the first base structure is manufactured using SLA 3D printed parts and tentacles made from laser-cut printed acetate film. the second is made from bent wire and tentacles mesh plastic tubing with a coloured plastic insert. both designs are optimized to to easily move and be controlled by small vibration motors at the base of each. this allows tentacles to reflect the flirty glances of someone when there is mutual attraction.

when someone is looking at you, a ripple up your back helps identify the admirer

the wearable is currently tested out as a prototype

if there is mutual interest, tentacles react by unfolding to prompt interaction

two cameras are embedded to sense the gaze of people

ripple wearable extension evokes by the types of courtship found in nature

in the future, ripple could sense a wearer’s sweat and heart rate to see if there is a mutual interest

borrowing peacock and sea anemone qualities, which display physical change in response to mutual attraction

the base structure is manufactured using SLA 3D printed parts with and laser cut tentacles 

ripple-the future of dating
video © huishan ma 

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edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom