Prototype of Interoceptive Eyeware (photo by Elena Dorfman)
Clothing advertisements have long called for consumers to “try on a new you!” – as though a simple change in wardrobe can unlock previously untapped wells of confidence and charm, leading to a makeover not just of one’s style but of one’s inner self. While this brand of hyperbole is standard in the retail industry, a new range of products from experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats may finally deliver where fashion has failed. Keats’ Superego Suits, which can now be tried on by appointment at Modernism Gallery in San Francisco, are a line of apparel designed to augment—or alter—your personality at will.
Keats, who made headlines last year with his attempts to convince the United Nations to tectonically rearrange the world’s continents in the interest of achieving global harmony, found inspiration for the Superego Suit after reading about recent studies in neuroscience at Harvard and Florida State University and EPFL in Switzerland, including their research into interoception—loosely defined as one’s sense of the physiological condition of their body. “I’m interested in what happens when neuroscience escapes the lab and enters the world,” Keats declares.
To that end, the ever industrious Keats has devised several pieces of apparel designed to put neuroscience’s theories into practice, including Interoceptive Eyewear with irises that open and close in time with the user’s breathing; Ego Boost Bracelets that position the wearer in a testosterone-releasing “power pose” (perfect for the board room); Body Schema Extension Rings which extend the wearer’s reach, therefore increasing their presence in the world; and, perhaps most impressively, Free Will Footwear, battery-based elevator shoes that can adjust the wearer’s height and posture as desired.
