Social Experiment Gets Strangers To Hold Hands To Stay Warm
For many of us the 2013-14 winter season has been as grueling as ever.
Whether it be insane amounts of snow, blistering cold winds or record low temperatures, many of us have been longing for the spring and summer weather that never seems to be wanting to settle itself in. To help combat the cold, Duracell -one of the biggest battery providers worldwide -developed and placed a warming bus shelter in a busy area of Montreal, Quebec, a city that has definitely been hit with a bone chilling winter.
The one catch is that the shelter requires human connection in order to be activated, check it out: When we traditionally think of warmth in the winter months things such as central heating, blankets, hot beverages and fireplaces will commonly come to mind.
The one source of warmth that can often be overlooked is the incredible warmth in human connection. This social experiment conducted by Duracell effectively reminds us of this alternative warmth by making it the necessary ingredient in providing the physical heat that the shelter is capable of producing. Whether it be amongst friends or complete strangers, physical interaction amongst humans seems to be at an all-time low.
The leading culprit seems to be technology, which now effortlessly “connects” us with one another without the need for much actual “connection.” Even something as simple as holding hands (which the shelter requires for activation) can be a profound experience in breaking down a lot of the barriers that we put between us and anyone else that we are yet to be “comfortable” with. Although some may have concerns in regards to sanitation when it comes to both holding hands with a stranger or putting your hand up against a piece of glass that thousands of others have likely touched, I really believe that this is a small factor in an otherwise cool creation. Besides, we regularly expose ourselves daily -both intentionally and unintentionally -to hundreds of things that can be identified as equally unsanitary, so let’s not let that deter us from the cool intention this shelter seems to have been built off of. .
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