Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Prosthetic Tail

I say prosthetic tail, rather than costume, because it is partially functional.  It wags slowly for calm, faster for happy, wildly for excited.  So far, it's just a fairly simple spectrum of movement based on changes in the wearer's heartbeat.  It can't signal the many other things that a natural tail can, such as anger or fear.  But it's a step in the right direction for some Otherkin folks who feel like parts of their body are missing, and yes, that can impair communication.

Now consider that there are two primary pieces of emotive body language accessible, the other being ears.  Ordinary humans communicate emotion mainly with facial expression, augmented by other body language and voice tone.  But those modes don't work well or feel natural for everyone.  Some folks prefer other options.  And some are perfectly fluent with the standard set but want more.
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  • 3 comments
judifilksign

judifilksign

January 30 2013, 22:53:42 UTC 8 years ago

I wouldn't be surprised to find that in the near future, there will be biofeedback tails, with more specific movements to thoughts, as the cutting edge artificial limb technology starts to trickle down.
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

January 31 2013, 01:22:23 UTC 8 years ago

That seems plausible.
cissa

cissa

January 31 2013, 20:52:21 UTC 8 years ago

I know I envy my cats their expressive tails and ears! Maybe we had to develop language because we didn't have such.