The “After School One-sided Love Delusional Inventor”
Interviewer & Japanese Writer: Yamamoto Takaya; Translation & Editing: Matthew Cherry
The Voice Shower
Tiger Lee’s Voice Shower was chosen for the 2020 INNO-vation Program’s Disruptive Challenge. It’s a peculiar piece, allowing one to bathe in a voice through a speaker embedded inside of a showerhead. It’s almost like taking a real shower, but instead of water, a voice emerges from the device, creating a whole new kind of sensation.
Tiger Lee began his activities as an inventor in 2010. He explained that his lack of popularity in school led to this lifepath.
“All throughout middle and high school I wasn’t popular at all. Often times after school I would think about the person I liked, imagining what kinds of dates I would go on with them and what kinds of conversations we would have. I was finding ways to express these delusions by giving them a form,” Tiger Lee said.
Soon after he came up with a workbook, aptly titled the “Write Just Like Her Hiragana Workbook”. (Hiragana is a writing system in the Japanese language.)
Everyone has their own quirks when it comes to handwriting. The handwriting of someone you like carries with it its own personality; it’s not a stretch to say you could get attached or grow fond of another person’s way of writing. Tiger Lee had a certain idea in his mind that he just couldn’t keep locked away. “I want to write the same way she does!” The workbook he created works just like other handwriting exercise books, only this one has your crush’s handwriting faintly printed on the pages. By tracing the lines, you can learn to write in the same way as them.
The exercise book
Tiger Lee’s delusions just don’t know how to stop. Here’s an example of his stream of consciousness. “Sure, it’s fun to write like the person you like, but wouldn’t their voice be nice too? But not just listening to it, I think I want to try bathing in it. What comes to mind when you hear the word bathe? Of course, a shower! So then, why not try adding a speaker to a shower to be bathed in that person’s voice?”
This line of reasoning brought about the creation of the Voice Shower. The strange device emits a voice from a speaker installed in a showerhead, and according to Tiger Lee himself, uses the actual voice of a girl he fancies.
“Voices aren’t something you can just listen to, but you can feel them on your skin as well. The first time I tried it, I felt like I discovered a brand new, never-before-experienced sensation,” Tiger Lee recalled about his first experience with the Voice Shower.
The Voice Shower was definitely born from the delusions of love Tiger Lee experienced. But he felt like the device could be opened up to even further possibilities. What would happen if you bathed in the voice of a friend or family member? What kind of effect would it have? What about a pet, such as a dog or a cat? What if you used your own voice?
In the pursuit of these vocal possibilities and to have more people learn about the emotions that come along with them, Tiger Lee decided to apply for the INNO-vation Program.
In Part 2, we’ll take a look at Tiger Lee’s activities during the INNO-vation Program.
