Can you be my…?

"Do you want to be my..." is a project designed by master's student Guus Vandeweerd, inspired by the Korean documentary "Meeting You" (2020). The documentary shows a deceased girl who was virtually created, allowing her mother to reconnect with her "daughter." This raises questions about immortality and the emotional attachment to virtual identities.

Guus created four different avatars representing his mother, father, classmate, and close friend. The avatars were displayed in different locations, and the experiment showed that social norms had a major influence on how people interacted with the avatars. For example, when people embodied his mother's avatar, they tended to take a soft stance, while interactions with his father's avatar were more likely to be very brisk.