May 21, 2007
A human heartbeat activated by cell phone, to stay close to your child
Remote Heart is a project by Daniel Goddemeyer for the MA Royal College of Art Behavioural Concepts, whereby a human heartbeat is activated by cell phone, and transmitted to a doll held by a child who has been separated from his parents. For instance, his first days at kindergarten or a hospitalization. Remote Heart provides an intimate and meaningful way for the child to feel close to his parents.
In his own words:Situations where children are separated from their parents often provide a problem especially for younger children. In these situations it is important for the child that she / he feels close to his parents and for them, to be able to provide a simple, but yet meaningful way of staying close to the child.
Transmitting the heartbeat...
When placed over a human heart the heartbeart receiver transmits the recognized heartbeat via bluetooth to the mobile phone. Using the mobile phone GSM network the heartbeat is then transmitted to the doll, which then displayes the received heartbeat with it's physical beating heart.
The doll's physical beating heart takes over the remote human heartbeat of a person. As long as the heartbeat sender is held over a human heart it transmit the heartbeat to the doll in realtime.
When parent and child are separated for periods of time, such as when a young child has to be hospitalized or is e.g. for the first time away in kindergarten, the remote heart doll provides an intimate and meaningful way for the child to feel close to his parents.
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