This experiment brought to us by Lorenz Potthast of Bremen,
Germany is simple, but actually kind of mind-blowing. Potthast
was feeling that society was moving way too fast and decided to
invent a visual, tangible form of the ultimate “chill pill.” In
order to challenge the way we perceive the world, he created
this “Deceleration Helmet” that renders everything in
slowmotion. A video camera sends moving images to a small
computer in the helmet, which subsequently renders the footage
into slow-motion to be played back in front of the helmet-
wearer’s eyes. Potthast explains that “the inconceivably amount
of information and influences in our everyday lives leads in
many cases to an excessive demand.The idea to decouple the
personal perception from the natural timing enables the user to
become aware of his own time.” The temporal distortion may be
fully customizable via a hand-held remote control, but we’re
still glad this thing comes with a helmet. Or you can take the
other other chill pill. No judgement.