Giant emoji canon will bruise you with ‘likes’

Our spirits rise and fall by the number of “likes” we receive on our social media posts.

But would your appetite for online validation change if your face was literally pelted with emoji?

Artist Tadas Maksimovas stood in front of a rapid-firing “Emotigun” so the rest of us won’t have to.

The Emotigun looks like a Gatling gun but instead of bullets, it’s multi-slingshot, motorized construction fires round, frisbee-sized ‘likes,” hearts, and four faces: laughter, surprise, tears, and anger.

Maksimovas stars in a demonstration video dressed in the kind of blue suit Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wore when he testified before Congress. The gun is carefully aimed at his face and the video, below, is presented in slow motion so we can watch with a mix of delight and self-reflection as the weaponized emoji plucks him in the face one shot after another.

Maksimovas’ “Emotigun” is based on a prototype created by Jorge Sprave, who hosts a YouTube show called The Slingshot Channel.

The material and weight of each emoji round are not clear. The emoji are heavy enough to maintain a well-aimed flight path – and hard enough to sting a bit. A closing photo on Maksimovas’ website shows his face red, swollen and marked up.

“The concept aims to pose the question as to whether or not we would still long for constant recognition, if we received it physically,” according to a statement on his website. “During the testing, Tadas took around 200 emoji hits to the face, which incidentally is the most ‘likes’ he has ever received.”

Emotigun from Tadas Maksimovas on Vimeo.

Source: Design Boom