Gilt
Developed during a speculative design course at ELISAVA Barcelona, GILT explores the growing dependence on AI-assisted knowledge. Taking the form of an interactive wearable that responds to user activity, the illuminated cap references both the convenience of instant access to information and the gradual decline of independent cognitive effort. The dunce cap - historically a symbol of intellectual failure, though once associated with learning - is reinterpreted in the context of AI-assisted knowledge.
Brief
Create a speculative wearable object that critically reflects on the side effects of today's technology.
Approach
Focusing on AI guilt, my direction was a simple data visualization labelling every user according to their AI usage.
Core idea
A Dunce cap inspired logo appearing on the body, every time the user interacts with AI.
Research: Dunce cap and the AI guilt
The dunce cap originally was a symbol of higher intelligence. Later it became the symbol of intellectual failure for students.
Logo
Combining the letters of the word "AI".
Prototype
Fast prototype from cardboard.
Programming
I coded an ESP32 module through Arduino, and programmed a local web app that can wirelessly control it through WiFi.
Finalize and Ensemble
GILT earned a Pannónia/ELISAVA scholarship and pushed my practice further into speculative territory - a useful counterweight to the more functional, production-minded work I usually do.