Jann Choy has designed Liǎn in London, United Kingdom.

This project is an experimental mask that explores the relationship between our online personas and offline selves. It's heavily influenced by Chinese face-changing opera art and online avatars.

Biàn Liǎn (变脸) directly translates as "face changing" where the performer changes their "face" to signify a shift in mood. Each face symbolises a different emotion that parallels our online behaviours: we wear many faces online and can change them at any moment.

Liǎn’s physical form responds to one's real-time online emotions, using sentiment analysis to trigger the transformation. Liǎn doesn’t act as a criticism, however, it's simply an inquiry into our online manifestations.

This project has been longlisted in the wearable design category of Dezeen Awards 2022.

Designer: Jann Choy

Project: Liǎn