In a rather brutal contemporary expression of classic carrot-and-stick motivational therapy, Ling Tan’s Reality Mediators project aims to promote proactive activity by physically punishing stagnancy and laziness. Composed of a series of wearable sensors that detect muscle movement, brainwave activity and GPS location, Tan's Reality Mediators devices issue electric shocks, unpleasant sounds, intense heat or disruptive vibrations to various parts of the body if they sense a lull in activity or brain function.
Whilst the project has been designed around function and wearability, the underlying idea is conceptual, aiming to make the wearer think about how gadgets for the body alter our daily activities by training us to think in certain ways, ultimately changing our perception of the world around us. In a similar vein to SIGMA, (a multi-sensory, hands free instrument which translates body movement into captivating audio/visual displays), Reality Mediators takes its cues from the Steve Mann-coined term, ‘Mediated Reality’, referring to the ways in which devices designed to enhance or alter our senses can artificially modify human perception.

Undergoing the therapy herself, Tan found she began to navigate and perceive her environment in new ways as a result of adapting to the device. As the user adapts, Reality Mediators raises questions around who is actually in control: the person wearing it or the device? Reality Mediators' packaging - made to resemble that of other consumer-based products - has also been designed to question the extent to which consumers will accept certain invasive technologies because of the ways in which they are presented. As we know, a bit of branding goes a long way.