Elephant Foot (Empathy Wearable)

What would it feel like to sense even the most subtle vibrations through your feet?

Elephants do this— they are thought to communicate over long distances (miles!) using seismic signals. This project aimed to give us a glimpse into this experience... can you imagine being aware of the smallest vibrations through an ultra-sensitive foot?

Using a variety of fabrication and hardware/software tools, I built a wearable foot that enhances vibrations through the floor using a piezo sensor and reproduces them in realtime at higher amplitude so that the wearer can strongly sense someone walking across the room by vibration alone. This experience provides the user with a curious perspective on how elephants ‘hear through their feet’.

For further details, please visit my MIT portfolio page.