# Rethinking perception through design | Behnaz Farahi | TEDxMIT Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNjp8eB_fUc Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/pNjp8eB_fUc Generated: 2026-01-09T21:03:48.109+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Behnaz Farahi's work explores the intersection of social, material, and psychological dimensions to create responsive and interactive technologies that challenge societal norms, such as gender objectification, by transforming perception and fostering connection through bio-inspired materials and computational design. **Key Points:** - Farahi's research explores the relationship between the human body and environments, ranging from the intimate scale of wearables to public art installations like projecting eyes onto the MIT Great Dome. - The project "Gaze to the Stars" projects encoded personal narratives and emotions from 200 participants onto the MIT Great Dome, turning it into a storytelling vessel. - Farahi investigates how materials and technologies shape our perceptions, emotions, and connection to the world, drawing from social, material science, and psychological perspectives. - She showcased responsive materials, including a textile made of colorful, overlapping ovals and a structure of spiky filaments that react to stimuli. - A key theme is challenging the "male gaze" and female objectification prevalent in fashion and media, aiming to subvert these power dynamics. - The research involves developing novel, responsive, and often bio-inspired materials created through techniques like electrospinning and robotic fabrication. - The presentation concludes by inviting the audience to experience the interactive sound healing performance featuring crystal singing bowls, visualizing sound patterns through water interaction. ![Screenshot at 00:14: The presentation begins with a visual of a model wearing a black, skin-tight suit with a helmet, surrounded by robotic arms displaying close-ups of large green eyes, illustrating the theme of mediated perception and surveillance.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/pNjp8eB_fUc/00-00-14.jpg) **Context:** Behnaz Farahi, presenting at TEDxMIT, discusses her interdisciplinary research that merges computational design, material science, and critical theory to explore human perception and interaction with technology. Her work often centers on critical perspectives regarding gender, surveillance, and the body's relationship with responsive environments, utilizing innovative materials and interactive installations to provoke new ways of seeing and feeling. ## Detailed Analysis Behnaz Farahi outlines her research focus: exploring the relationships between the human body and its environments across social, material, and psychological scales. She emphasizes that perception is not neutral but is actively shaped by our tools and experiences. Farahi showcases several experimental works. One is a dynamic textile featuring colorful, petal-like components that change based on movement (00:17). Another piece involves a suit-clad figure surrounded by robotic arms displaying eyes (00:14), symbolizing external gaze and mediation. She discusses the project "Gaze to the Stars" (01:00), a large-scale public art installation where the MIT Great Dome was projected with numerous close-up eyes, encoding personal stories of longing, grief, and fear from 200 participants (07:50, 08:15). This installation reclaims gazing as an act of care and fosters connection. Farahi also details her material research, including developing responsive, bio-inspired materials using techniques like electrospinning and exploring textile/tensile structures (03:21, 03:06). A central question raised is whether the subaltern can speak, particularly when mediated by technology (05:36). The presentation culminates in a live performance featuring a sound healing session with crystal singing bowls (13:59, 14:09), demonstrating how sound/vibration can influence the environment and the body's internal state (11:40). The overall goal is to use art, design, and technology to foster emotional well-being and challenge ingrained societal biases like female objectification in media and fashion (05:55, 04:36). ### Conceptual Framework - The research framework intersects Social (Data Collection, Storytelling, Feminist HCI), Material (New Manufacturing, Responsive Materials), and Psychological (Embodiment, Emotion, Mental Wellbeing) dimensions - The core idea is that perception is mediated, and technology/design shapes how we relate to ourselves and the world. ### Gaze to the Stars Installation - Projecting encoded personal narratives (stories of longing, grief, success) from 200 individuals onto the MIT Great Dome - This public art piece reclaims gazing as an act of care, fostering connection, resilience, and empathy in the city (07:50, 08:54). ### Responsive Materials & Wearables - Showcases kinetic textiles with color-changing elements (00:17) and spiky, reactive structures inspired by natural systems (02:46) - Explores bio-materials and robotic fabrication to create interactive surfaces. ### Challenging Objectification - Discusses how fashion industry practices often reinforce female objectification and sexual harassment (05:55) - Explores creating masks (05:14) and interactive devices to subvert established power dynamics related to sight and gaze. ### AI and Sensory Interaction - Demonstrates an AI-powered immersive pod that collects stories and encodes summaries within participants' irises (07:04, 08:27) - The system asks participants deep questions about their longings and dreams. ### Live Sound Healing Performance - Concludes with a demonstration of sound healing using crystal singing bowls, projecting water-like ripple patterns onto the floor (13:53, 14:09) - The performance seeks to connect participants to their inner state through vibration and sensory immersion. ![Screenshot at 00:14: A model in a futuristic suit stands surrounded by robotic arms displaying giant, surveilling eyes, representing the project's focus on mediated perception.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/pNjp8eB_fUc/00-00-14.jpg) ![Screenshot at 02:20: A Venn diagram illustrating the three core research areas: Social, Material, and Psychological, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of the work.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/pNjp8eB_fUc/00-02-20.jpg) ![Screenshot at 04:08: A model wearing a 3D-printed cape with intricate, textured, spiky surfaces that react to external stimuli.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/pNjp8eB_fUc/00-04-08.jpg) ![Screenshot at 07:51: An aerial night view of the MIT Great Dome with a massive, multi-eyed projection, symbolizing the 'Gaze to the Stars' installation.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/pNjp8eB_fUc/00-07-51.jpg) ![Screenshot at 14:22: A performer in white attire sits surrounded by glowing crystal singing bowls, engaging in a sound healing performance with projected water-like patterns on the floor.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/pNjp8eB_fUc/00-14-22.jpg)