Snow Xu

Humans aspire to be perfect while having no unified understanding of perfection. Perplexed by our errors, we dream of machines that transcend our flaws and limitation of perfection. But how does the imperfect give birth to the perfect?

Imperfecthuman Therapy Station™ offers a mutualistic therapy for imperfecthumans & imperfectmachines. The imperfecthuman patients are invited to interact with an awkward and nervous machine that shakes hands imperfectly. As interaction continues, an exchange in sensory data from the awkward handshake movement evokes sympathetic & empathetic bonding between the human and machine. Patients thus calm down the jittery machine to “perfect” the handshake. The therapeutic outcome is meant to vary for each person: some patients feeling relief, some indifference, and others increased anxiety. This variation in outcome entails the therapy as an experience for developing personal coping mechanisms rather than for reaching “perfection”.

Imperfecthuman Therapy Station™ was inspired by the artist’s anxiety when she tried to engineer a robot that reciprocates a firm and professional handshake. This anxiety prompted the questions: how can we create perfectly sociable and friendly machines when we are not perfect? Does interaction automatically require an understanding of perfection?