NICOLE PREECE
AUTOMATED AFFECTION
2025
What does it mean to let technology into the most personal aspects of our lives? Automated Affection is an interactive installation displayed at TUDublins GradX show that explores how technology has become entangled in our emotional lives. As we turn to technology for comfort, validation, and connection, the project questions what is lost in the process. The work reflects on how human complexity is flattened into data, and how the quiet and embodied rituals of intimacy like handwrit ten notes or facial expressions, are repackaged into simulations for efficiency and analysis. Placed at the centre of a three-screen setup, the viewer becomes both participant and subject. Each screen offers a different perspective on how machines interpret presence and emotion, inviting reflection on what it means to be seen, known, and understood in a digital age
Winner Institute of Designers
Grad Award Digital Design
Winner Institute of Designers
Grad Award Experimental Design
// --- Breakfast Trio (Children) --- //
image_02.capture(“BreakfastTrio.jpg”);
Summary = “Three young children at a plastic table, eating cereal in natural morning light. All in pyjamas. Expressions range from goofy to engaged.”;
EmotionalTone = [“Nostalgic”, “Warm”, “Chaotic joy”];
VisualAnalysis = {
Colour: “Primary colours — yellow, red, green”,
PossibleThemes: [“Siblingship”, “Childhood rituals”, “Emotional plurality in early life”],
UserIntent: “Capturing innocent, unscripted joy”
};
image_02.end();
// --- Breakfast Trio (Children) --- //
image_02.capture(“BreakfastTrio.jpg”);
Summary = “Three young children at a plastic table, eating cereal in natural morning light. All in pyjamas. Expressions range from goofy to engaged.”;
EmotionalTone = [“Nostalgic”, “Warm”, “Chaotic joy”];
VisualAnalysis = {
Colour: “Primary colours — yellow, red, green”,
PossibleThemes: [“Siblingship”, “Childhood rituals”, “Emotional plurality in early life”],
UserIntent: “Capturing innocent, unscripted joy”
};
image_02.end();
