The Decelerator Helmet. Live Your Life In Slow Motion
German artist Lorenz Potthast has created an experimental helmet called The Decelerator, which allows the user to perceive their world in slow motion. It seems that the invariantly constant stream of time has been digitally broken.
Built entirely around a reflective aluminium sphere that covers a user's head, the outside world is captured by a camera and processed on a netbook inside the helmet, making the speed of what is seen on a head-mounted display controllable. A semi-spherical remote is used to slow down the world as they see fit. Decoupling the standard perception of time is the core idea behind this; making the user aware of his/her own relationship to time.
Technology breaks time
The remote itself offers three types of control:
- Auto: the video is automatically slowed down, and brought up to regular speed after a time interval.
- Press: the video is slowed down at specific moments when the button is pressed.
- Scroll: the user can directly manipulate the video speed.
Beyond this, to give people outside of The Decelerator a look into what the user is experiencing, a monitor is mounted on the ouside of the apparatus. It's an interesting experiment, which presents some danger in the form of putting a person on constant time delay; but shows the concept of present in a constructed,
artificial state.
Technology breaks time. Fascinating.
The Decelerator Helmet - A slow motion for Real Life from Lorenz Potthast on Vimeo.
Source: ciaokaesten.de
Jason England
