The Whispering Interface

Problem Statement

In a time of increasing psychological stress—over a billion people worldwide live with mental illness, and 27% of European workers report work-related stress—decisions are increasingly made based on data, strategy, and efficiency. Intuitive and emotional knowledge is considered unreliable. This development is embedded in societal logics of performance pressure and optimization thinking, amplified by self-tracking technologies. The challenge is to design alternative technology concepts that help people regain access to their intuition, fostering awareness and resonance.

Idea and Concept

The Whispering Interface is a speculative artifact that does not measure or control, but quietly mirrors inner states. A natural crystal, symbolizing intuition, finds its person when they are ready for change. Embedded in a customizable casing, it responds through light, vibration, and subtle shape-shifts. It gives no instructions but invites reflection in everyday moments. Its ultimate aim is to make itself unnecessary once people trust their intuition again.

Implementation

The implementation of the project focuses on the speculative design concept of the Whispering Interface. The idea was translated into a visual narrative through a short film that presents four everyday scenarios in which the interface appears as a subtle companion. The film stages the object as a crystal embedded in an individual setting, reacting through light, vibration, and form. In addition, a website was developed as a prototype, serving both as an artifact of the speculative design and as the final presentation of the project.