Long before today’s proliferation of wearable technologies, Viennese architectural collective Haus-Rucker-Co imagined a series of prosthetic devices that would change the wearer’s understanding of their surroundings. The Flyhead Helmet—an insect-like, turquoise-tinted headpiece made of transparent PVC—was outfitted with a pair of optical prisms that “filter and multiply optical impressions” and a “portable echo device” connected to a set of headphones. Created at a time when experimentation with psychedelic drugs like LSD became popular as a means of altering perception, the Flyhead Helmet was meant to heighten wearers’ spatial awareness without the use of substances—hence the helmet’s alternative name, the Mind Expander.
Gallery label from 2024
