The Cyborg Mermaid

The Cyborg Mermaid – or: how technè can help the misfits fit in and stand out!

In feminist studies, the figure of the mermaid has long been regarded as flawed, disabled and less-than-human. Her theoretical counterpart in that respect would be the cyborg, an image used to show that with the help of robotics, humankind could be larger than life. So, what would happen if we could combine those two images and apply them to create “super love” more-than-human relationships? In my PhD, I am exploring the possibilities of technology for “mermaids”, people who normally fall outside the norm, to satisfy human desires in a new way.

Publication

The Cyborg Mermaid (or: How Technè Can Help the Misfits Fit In)
Publication in Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, together with Emiel Maliepaard.

Paper presentations

Presentation at INservice Autisme, Malle (BE) 2016.

Presentation at Love and Sex with Robots, London 2016.

A poster for FRAN FEST Poster Project, exhibited at ACE Across in Adelaide (Australia) from 26 August – 16 September 2017