Body Swap: Future Tech and Gender Identity

Note: The linked video has some nudity. Not Safe For Work.

Alexandra's post on technology and its effects on women reminded me of this experiment being done by researchers at BeAnotherLab.

Using human participants, cameras, and two sets of virtual reality goggles, the participants are transported into the body of the opposite sex. It is really something to see.

Check it out here: Gender Swap - The Experiment with The Machine to Be Another (2:32)

The woman's point of view is filmed and sent over for the man to see through his goggles and the woman see's the man's point of view. 

Though we don't get an interview over what the participants thought of the gender swap, we can imagine this to be a really interesting experience. Body swapping pushes participants to ask themselves fundamental questions like what gender is? How important is their sex to who they are? The use of tech to push these questions is considered by the researchers to be a feminist technoscience.

What do you think of the presentation? What use do they have for gender studies?