Blog

Dec 13, 2023

Artist Uses Technology to Make a Human

Ani Liu has used emerging technologies to create human-scented perfumes,

Ani Liu has used emerging technologies to create human-scented perfumes, eyesight-swapping goggles, and microbe-covered casts of her body.

Imagine bottling the scent of someone you love, eternalizing them forever, allowing you to dive into a fond memory of that person with just one whiff. Ani Liu has figured out how to make this sci-fi sounding fantasy a reality.

Liu is an artist who uses technology and science to develop multi-sensory experiences. Her work pulls from tools used in architecture, augmented reality, and synthetic biology—creating art that examines the social, cultural, and emotional effects of these emerging technologies.

We spoke with Liu, a graduate of the MIT Media Lab, about how she managed to bottle her parents’ scents, what it means to look through someone else's eyes, and why we should stop being grossed out by germs.

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