What Kind of Clothes Would You Wear If You Had Four Extra Arms? Thinking About Body Augmentation from a Fashion Perspective

The Research Focuses on "Automatic" and "Free" Technology

JST ERATO Inami Jizai-Body Project

―Can you tell us about the 'Inami Jizai-Body Project'?

Nowadays, various activities of ours, including work, are being substituted by technology such as AI and robots. This is generally referred to as 'automation'. However, there are also actions that we do not want to be automated.

For instance, enjoying delicious food or playing sports. And, of course, dressing up and fashion. The act of invigorating these activities with technology is referred to as 'Jizai' (literally, 'at will'), in contrast to 'automation', and the 'Inami Jizai-Body Project' is researching how the body and humans respond, change, and evolve through it.

―In the project, various unique devices are researched, such as robots that are attached to the body. In this interview, we would like to consider how these wearable devices can be seen not just as 'tools' or 'devices', but from a 'fashion' perspective.

That's a very interesting theme (laughs). Let me introduce a perfect example. There is an artificial body part called the 'Sixth Finger' developed by Professor Yoichi Miyawaki from the University of Electro-Communications and research director Gowrishankar Ganesh from France's CNRS. It senses potential from muscles with a sensor, and the wearer can move it to some extent. In other words, it's a device that adds an additional finger.

Originally, our brains do not have the function to move six fingers, but we get used to and can handle it. As you can see, changes and augmentation often happen on the body or human side due to technology.

The interesting story about fashion starts here. In 2022, a workshop was held where the general public tried on this artificial finger. A non-moving 'Sixth Finger' model made from block toys was used, but what the participants enjoyed was to 'decorate' the finger.

―Wearable robots are becoming fashion items?

Yes, it could be said that this is a clear illustration of how 'self-mobilization' is happening, instead of 'automation'. Currently, most welfare devices are designed in the realm of 'prosthetic engineering'. 'Prosthetics' refer to the replacement of lost body functions with artificial ones, like prosthetic legs and prosthetic arms - it's the idea of bringing a 'minus' back to 'zero'. On the other hand, 'extensions' like the 'sixth finger' turn the zero into a plus. And when you start expanding, you start decorating - in other words, it becomes fashionable. From this perspective, fashion can be seen as an embodiment of 'self-mobilization'.

What has Wearable Robot Technology Taught Us 'What Fashion Means to Humans'?

―As these devices become popular, will we start seeing a 'style' like we do with clothes?

I think so. We're already surrounded by fashionable devices like glasses, watches, and earphones. Glasses are particularly interesting. Despite being an aid to vision, they also have a high value as decor. They were invented in the 13th century, and yet 'fashion glasses' have been sold for nearly 100 years. This shows that prosthetics and fashion are intricately related. There is every possibility that the same will happen with body augmentation devices.

―However, isn't the difference between clothing and robots or devices that they are not simply worn?

Yes, that's true. Let me introduce a device developed by our project called 'JIZAI ARMS'. This is a device that extends four robot arms from the back, which can be worn by dancers for performances.

'JIZAI ARMS' JST ERATO Inami Jizai-Body Project, Inami-Monai Research Group in the Department of Body Information at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at The University of Tokyo, Shunji Yamanaka Research Group in the Department of Mechanical and Biofunctional Systems at The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science

―It's not just about having extra arms, it's a beautiful robot.

Several discoveries have been made through 'JIZAI ARMS'. Currently, these robotic arms are often remotely operated by others, creating a situation of human collaboration through the robot. So what happens if we replace the human operator with AI instead? Or move the arms based on the movements sensed by the wearer's body? These are all questions we have been exploring.

The robot has various characteristics such as 'body', 'clothing', 'others'. Furthermore, we're also studying how the original owner would feel if they had to lend their worn-in 'JIZAI ARMS' to someone else.

―Indeed, lending one's own clothes does involve special feelings.

This is because despite being mass-produced, clothes also represent our physical selves. Just as there are no people who go out naked, humans can hardly engage in social activities without being 'dressed'. This is why we may feel uncomfortable when someone touches our clothes without a second thought. Clothing also has an inner function of compensating for the disparity between our chosen identity and our actual selves.

In this sense, wearable robots are not yet as closely associated with self as clothing is. However, there is a memorable episode related to 'JIZAI ARMS'. Once a clothing designer visited our lab. They expressed their interest in designing clothing specifically for 'JIZAI ARMS'.

―A body extended and transformed by a robot, what kind of clothes would it wear? This is a theme for which there are no precedents in fashion until now.

If you are attached to your robot, you might want to dress it up in clothes that suit it. The range of motion for robots differs from that of humans, so naturally, the design of clothing would change too. Perhaps we've come to a point where we need to reconsider the shape of the human body. This is also a crucial point in our project. We think that the effects of 'body self-mobilization' can be articulated in terms of 'super-sensory experience', 'super body', 'out-of-body experience/transformation', 'double', 'integration', which can also be considered a type of digital transformation (DX) of the body.

As we consider the potential extent of body DX, the concept of 'humanoid' inevitably has to change. Moreover, in a society where XR (extended reality / cross reality) is the norm, we can become anything we want. The avatars that users employ are not dependent on the physical shape of the person at all, but at the same time, they can express the authentic qualities of that person.

Through technology, we might see an explosive diversification of 'bodies'. This would surely lead to significant changes in fashion. I believe this implies that people's inner selves and the state of their hearts could be transformed.

Masahiko Inami

Presidential Ambassador and Deputy Director of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology / Professor, University of Tokyo

Graduated from the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo in 1999, earning a Ph.D. (Engineering). He has been a professor at the University of Electro-Communications and Keio University, among others, and became a professor at the University of Tokyo in 2015. He is interested in the autonomy of technology, human augmentation engineering, and entertainment engineering. He has received awards such as the Coolest Invention of the Year from Time magazine and the young Scientist Award from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He is a founding representative of the Association for the Promotion of Superhuman Sports and a director of the Information Processing Society of Japan, the Virtual Reality Society of Japan, and the Japan Science Council. His books include 『スーパーヒューマン誕生！人間はSFを超える』 (NHK Publishing) and 『自在化身体論』 (NTS).