Cyborg Enhancements - Chandler 2026

Wearable Cardboard Mock-Up

Prompt

Now that we've explored the possible futures and developed strong project ideas, it's time to create your first prototypes (remember: prototypes are rapidly-made models created with easily-manipulative materials that demonstrate the simplest version of your idea in physical form). 

Just like the Wearable Performance Piece introduction activity, we will build our first prototypes as full-scale mock-ups to be worn and tested on our bodies. This is an opportunity to test out design shapes, sizes, and techniques of making before we create our final prototypes!  

Instructions 

Begin by sketching the pieces needed to construct your cyborg enhancement. Then assemble the materials needed and create quick mock-ups in paper and cardboard that you can attach to your body. Discuss with your partner what you think of the design and how it could be improved. 

Deliverables

Photograph your sketches and cardboard prototypes and assemble them in a blog post (in the Responses tab above) to record your first creations in the development of your cyborg concept. Add your thesis statement to the text portion of your post. 

Materials

  • Low-Fidelity Materials (i.e. Cardboard, Brass Brads, Bristol Paper, Wire, Dowels)
  • Cutting Mats
  • Rulers
  • Utility Knives
  • Hot Glue
  • Pencils
  • Markers

Time Estimate

2hrs

Solar Shield

Krishna Patel

Today, instead of waiting for natural selection to run its course, we are actively controlling the changes in physical and genetic traits in our species. Technological advancements are happening faster than ever before, and we now have the ability to enhance every aspect of the human body, from appearance, to physical strength, to memory.  We’re approaching an age in which 3D printed organs, augmented vision through telescopic contact lenses, personalized drugs to enhance performance, and brain-computer interfaces to control neuroprosthetic limbs with the mind are no longer ideas of the future. But with all of these augmentations, larger questions abound. How can the design process influence the way we perceive our human potential?

In this studio, students will create beyond-human body extensions and enhancements that range from practical to provocative. Through brainstorming, rapid prototyping, ideation, and ongoing feedback, students will design, build, and activate these enhancements while uncovering what makes us human. 


the Second Stomach

Ava Stamatelaky

Emotional Borealis Final Project

Christopher Schott