ĒTER OBJECTS
AN ASMR-THEMED COLLECTION
ASMR
ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is a term that describes a physical sensation: euphoria or deep calm, sometimes a tingling in the body. In recent years an online audience of millions has grown, dedicated to watching the work of designers and content creators who try to trigger this feeling in their viewers.
Like meditation or yoga, ASMR happens to both your body and to your mind. It is not about speed, but about focus and slowness. Through sound and film, shared through broadcasting platforms such as YouTube, works of ASMR make room for close-looking, close-listening, and close-feeling.ASMR injects the Internet with softness, kindness and empathy As a form of digital intimacy, it offers comfort on demand, standing against the feeling of isolation that constant connectivity can deceptively breed. Anecdotally, ASMR is being used as a form of self-medication against the effects of loneliness, insomnia, stress, and anxiety. This is a clue to its success, and to its transcendental appeal.
/James Taylor-Foster, ︎/
THE THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS OF ASMR
The pleasant and calming feeling in the body that is initiated by the ASMR is also increasingly researched in scientific context as it can contribute to healthcare such as reducing stress, anxiety and helping to fall asleep.
“Beyond offering a momentary brain tingle, there is a growing belief that ASMR can be used as an alternative form of therapy. Researchers at the University of Sheffield and Manchester Metropolitan University found that those who experience the phenomenon had significantly reduced heart rates, increased relaxation and feelings of social connection.”
/Oliver Wainwright, The Guardian, ︎/
“WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR”
is an exhibition series exploring the culture and the creative field of ASMR. It is a collaboration between ArkDes and the Design Museum.
8 April 2020 - 1 November 2020
‘WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD’ at ArkDes in Stockholm: ︎
13 May 2022 - 10 April 2023
‘WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD: The World of ASMR’ at the Design Museum in London: ︎
Following positive feedback received from exhibition-goers, who have experienced first hand in Stockholm and London the calming effects of the furniture forms and materiality, the idea has developed into a design line. Continuing our interest into the tangible experience of ASMR, ĒTER (commissioned architects for both exhibition scenographies), have developed designs for a new series of objects.
Therapeutic ASMR Objects - a mattress and a weighted blanket.
The project sets out to build durable objects imbued with calming, healing effects for learning purposes, sensory rooms (schools, kindergartens), wellbeing (spas), and healthcare (hospitals and rehabilitation centres) spaces – as well as for private use.