Signs of Life

About This Project

With mask-wearing and social distancing newly necessary, we’re finding our face-to-face communications more restricted and impersonal.  We can no longer read lips or communicate with touch in the public realm.  Signs of Life is a mask that changes color with each breath and touch. The color changing as a representation of our signs of life reveals what is typically invisible, yet what we are all trying to control and protect.

The effect is achieved with a thermochromic pigment that is activated by body heat.  The mask is made from a textile-based paper, and folded geometrically to avoid touching the skin all at once, as well as to create channels for airflow.