Dan Chen is an artist, designer and web developer. He is an MFA candidate in Digital + Media at the Rhode Island School of Design and received his BFA in Communication Design from University of Connecticut.
Working in the realms of art and design, Dan explores the possibility of Robotic Intimacy Technology (RIT), inviting a reflective evaluation and implication.
The desire to create relationships and environments that make us feel comfortable, provide a sense of security, and facilitate sensations of belonging, is inherent to human nature. research indicates that intimacy is necessary for emotional and mental health.
With advances in human communication technology and robotics, we often depend upon these technologies to facilitate intimacy and community (social networking, online dating, and sexting), yet paradoxically the same tools foster conditions of isolation.
As a new media artist, using interactions with Robotic Intimacy Technology (RIT), I raise questions regarding comfort vs. discomfort, sincerity vs. insincerity, real vs. simulation. Ultimately, I question the quality of the sensations of intimacy offered through technology. What is intimacy without humanity?
The human behaviors which create sensations of intimacy can be analyzed, systematized and programed into screen based communication and ultimately robotics (RIT’s). If a user mentally commits to an object as an acceptable alternative then subsequently, a similar level of intimacy or comfort can be reproduced. My work explores the possibility of RIT, inviting a reflective evaluation and implication.
