Teleexistence
(From The Verge, Picture Caption: "Norma Deseke, an anthropologist who played the role of "the performer" in the demonstration.")
"I am no longer Aaron Souppouris. I am a woman. I am a stranger. I stare down at the mask I hold in my hands, struggling to comprehend how those hands, which are clearly not mine, are allowing me to…"
This is beyond the “Telepresence” of the late 1990s/early 2000s, this is the drafting of protocols for TELE-EXISTENCE, with the exploration of how to exercise our empathy muscles too. Fascinating. Prepubescent boys who were role-playing the character of heroine Lara Croft may have little “Juniors” of their own, role-FEELING some new iteration of that game character. Imagine all your hollywood metaphors (Matrix, Gamer, every John Woo films with “doppleganger” themes, etc.) come alive and then some.