Mi Eun Kim

We want to project the best possible image of ourselves to the world. We design, shape and upgrade our body into a new and improved version with fashion, body correction or plastic surgery. We curate social networking pages with carefully edited words and beautifully retouched images to create an ideal online persona. The physical modifications transform us permanently, while digital editing is easy and impermanent but can only be achieved in the virtual world.

What if these virtual techniques could be applied to our physical bodies? Hyperbodies of the future will be able to have control over their perception of self through real-time personal editing. Through an exploration into how voice and facial expressions influence self-image in face-to-face communication, my experiments have led me to ask two questions: What if we could edit what we have already spoken aloud? What if we could manipulate our facial expressions with a push of the button?