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Motivated by the growing epidemic of loneliness, Soft Companions is an ecology of dynamic, creature-like textile artefacts exploring how sensory interactions with lifelike companions can evoke reciprocal care between humans and non-human matter.
The Ecology
Soft Companions is an ecology of dynamic, creature-like textile artefacts that explores how lifelike textile companions can evoke reciprocal care through sensory interactions with non-human matter.
Motivated by the growing epidemic of loneliness and the underexplored role of sensory engagement in our caring habits, the project shifts attention from utilitarian human-object interaction towards reciprocal sensory interaction.
Rather than functioning as passive objects, the companions invite acts of grooming, soothing, observation, and care.
Using naturally dyed knitted textiles combined with e-textiles, sensors, pneumatic systems, and soft mechanics, the companions breathe, move, emit warmth and light, purr when content, encourage calm breathing, and wander towards sunlight.
Through these interactions, they create moments of mutual regulation between human and textile companion.
The resulting ecology positions textiles as active companions rather than passive matter, proposing care as a relational, sensory, and ecological exchange between human and non-human bodies.
About Katrijn Westland
