EXOPARASITE

Concept

EXOPARASITE is an interactive mixed-reality wearable that imagines a speculative exoskeletal life form evolving alongside humanity. Inspired by the human pelvis and spine, two of the body's most efficient structural systems, the organism studies these anatomical frameworks and reconstructs them into its own evolving form rather than replicating them directly. When worn, the structure appears incomplete on its own, becoming fully realised only through its attachment to the human body. The wearable therefore exists not as an accessory, but as an organism whose identity depends on its host, suggesting a future in which biological and synthetic life develop through mutual adaptation.

From Parasitism to Symbiosis

The project uses this fictional life form as a metaphor for our relationship with digital systems. Like digital technologies trained on human knowledge and behaviour, EXOPARASITE learns from the human body while remaining dependent upon it. As digital technologies become increasingly embedded in everyday life, this relationship gradually shifts from one-sided dependence to mutual reliance. Through the metaphor of a wearable parasite, EXOPARASITE asks where the boundary lies between dependence, adaptation and coexistence, and ultimately questions whether humans continue to shape technology, or whether technology is beginning to shape us.

Interaction

Alongside the physical wearable, visitors can activate an augmented reality counterpart through a dedicated link, allowing the organism to appear on any compatible screen. The digital form responds in real time, attaching itself to the viewer's face and extending the physical sculpture into an interactive mixed-reality experience. Rather than existing as separate works, the wearable and its digital counterpart function as a single organism distributed across physical and virtual space, inviting audiences to experience a speculative form of coexistence between humans and synthetic life.