The Dress project, rooted in Embodied Interaction and Speculative Design, explores unconventional anti-rape products. It uses proximity sensors and innovative mechanisms, such as porcupine-like spikes and skunk-inspired scents, to deter unwanted contact, fostering a reflection on consent issues in society.

Challenge

With a foundation on Embodied Interaction and Speculative Design, this project takes as it starting point models of consent affirmation from Planned Parenthood, BDSM erotic practices and Queer Theory. The Dress seeks to bring attention to the topic of consent by offering absurd yet seemingly reasonable methods to defend the wearer against unwanted touch. What role should anti-rape products have in our society?

What we did

To come up with the concept, we facilitated a workshop to see how people express and withdraw consent and we studied the mechanisms that animals use to defend themselves. We then created several iterations of the Dress using fabric, second-hand dresses, an Arduino nano, proximity sensors, motors, a piezo transducer, a camera, and several meters of wires.

How it works

When the system is active, it responds to proximity by defending the user. If someone comes too close to the users chest, spikes are erected, mimicking the reaction of a porcupine. If the sensor located on the backside is activated, a piezo transducer emits a strong vinegar smell, a defense mechanism inspired by a skunk. And lastly, proximity to the vulva region triggers fake “eyes”, such as the ones Caligo butterflies have on their wings, that takes a picture of the offender and displays it on a screen, thus intimidating the attacker and providing the victim with a way of identifying and even persecuting the offender.

By designing with and for bodies and by stretching the boundaries of Speculative Design, designers (and potentially others) can reflect upon the significance of consent in wider cultural contexts.

The Dress was exhibited during the 2023 Southen Sweden Design Days.