Beyond Screens

CODAME Artists and the Future of Embodied Interfaces

In a world obsessed with screens, some creators are daring to look past them. Some CODAME artists stand among the earliest pioneers of this shift, reimagining how humans and machines engage—not through glass displays or spoken commands, but via embodied, sensory, and spatial experiences. Their work speaks to a deeper relationship with technology: one that is intuitive, immersive, and grounded in the physical world.

Recently we are learning about companies like OpenAI, Apple, Meta, Google, and Samsung investing heavily in hardware innovations to push beyond the screen. From ambient computing platforms and AR glasses to intelligent assistants embedded in everyday objects, the trend is clear: the future of technology is embodied, intuitive, and increasingly screenless. Yet long before these efforts made headlines, CODAME’s community was already prototyping this future through radical, artistic exploration—often blurring the lines between human, machine, and environment.

We would like to highlight just a few of these projects, which embody CODAME’s ethos: art and technology intertwined not just to look at, but to live with—immersive works that invite participation, provoke reflection, and redefine how we connect with machines:

A sensor-driven dress that reacts defensively to proximity
- Anouk Wipprecht

Anouk Wipprecht is a visionary fashion-tech designer and one of CODAME’s most recognized contributors. Her interactive garments—like the Spider Dress and Smoke Dress—combine sensors, AI, and robotics to respond to stimuli in real time: detecting proximity, interpreting stress levels, and expressing behavioral intent through motion and form. Her work poses critical questions about consent, presence, and emotional feedback in our interactions with machines—without ever requiring a screen.

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Wearables that foster introspection through vibration and rhythm
- Elaine Cheung

@Elaine Cheung’s Internet of Consciousness is a suite of wearable devices designed to guide users through altered states of awareness. These tools work to synchronize mind, body, and spirit using non-visual feedback mechanisms like vibration, rhythm, and touch. This screenless approach creates introspective interactions, merging technology with personal development and wellness.

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Music-generating shoes that translate movement into sound
— Alexandra Murray-Leslie 

Blending performance and electronics, @Alexandra Murray-Leslie’s Computer Enhanced Footwear turns shoes into expressive, musical instruments. These wearables sense motion and generate sound, encouraging interaction through dance, balance, and rhythm.

“We shift interaction from fingers to feet, freeing the hands and engaging the body.”
— Alexandra Murray-Leslie

Her work liberates interaction from the desktop paradigm, making the body the main interface.

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A LED-light installation driven by gesture and emotion
- Char Stiles + slowdanger + ProjectileObjects

In collaboration with performance collective slowdanger, Char Stiles created The Empathy Machine, a multisensory installation that uses movement and light to create affective, screenless connections between performers and audience. An intelligent LED ring responds to gesture, sound, and emotion—amplifying subtle physical cues into a communal experience. The result is an artwork that dissolves barriers between bodies and systems.

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When Artists Lead and Industry Follows

In 2025, OpenAI acquired a hardware company to build next-generation intelligent devices. Apple continues to push spatial computing boundaries with Vision Pro, while also exploring screenless, sensory-first technologies like the rumored next-generation AirPods featuring onboard cameras and spatial sensors for ambient interaction, Meta deepens its investments in augmented and virtual reality through Quest and Horizon platforms, and Google experiments with ambient computing via projects like Nest and Project Starline. Amazon explores predictive assistants and ambient AI in the smart home space with Alexa and Astro.

These efforts signal a collective ambition across Silicon Valley to create more embodied, emotionally intelligent technologies. Yet while these giants chase a screenless future, CODAME artists have already been living in it—designing experiences that are not only technically sophisticated, but also profoundly poetic, performative, and provocatively human.

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CODAME’s Legacy

Artists Building the Future Through Experience

CODAME is not just showcasing the future—it’s shaping it.

While tech giants follow market trends and product roadmaps, CODAME artists push boundaries through raw experimentation. They don’t wait for permission or mass adoption; they build prototypes, performances, and installations that become tomorrow’s interfaces.

By embracing embodied, screenless, and sensory-driven interactions, CODAME challenges the dominance of screens and introduces radically human ways of engaging with technology. These works influence not only culture but also design, research, and emerging tech paradigms.

CODAME artists demonstrate that the future isn’t something to wait for—
it’s something we prototype, dance with, and wear.

CODAME and his artists are confirming art is not decoration—it’s direction. Proving that artists aren’t just part of the conversation about the future. They’re leading it.