Regaining mobility after losing one or multiple limbs is one of modern time’s great marvels. Despite many amputees still able to live in a mostly independent and unhindered manner, more than 30% suffer from depression.

Multiple studies and conversations with my target group have shown that a significant reason for depression is that of body image. Body image describes a person’s thoughts, feelings, and even perception towards the aesthetics or attractiveness of their own body. This image takes on an entirely new dynamic when combined with the need to wear prosthetic limbs.

The process that leads to amputation is traumatic and often unexpected. After months of pain and immobility, you are then asked to choose from a variety of prosthetics that seek to resemble the lost limb/limbs. The “uncanny valley” is a hypothesized relation between an object‘s degree of human resemblance and one’s emotional response to said object. The hypothesis suggests that humanoid objects that imperfectly resemble actual human parts provoke uncanny or strangely familiar feelings of uneasiness and revulsion. 

Achieving body positivity is highly dependent on both self and social acceptance. The goal of Artificial Body Positivity is to give amputees more control over their appearance and better utilize their prosthetics to raise feelings of self-esteem and self-acceptance. Artificial Body Positivity achieves this by designing accessories for prosthetics that allow the wearer to express their individuality, while removing the negative stigma surrounding off-the-shelf prosthetics.

The A.B.P. app is where this concept becomes a reality. More than an online shop for prosthetic accessories,  but also a place where other innovative and creative projects around prosthetics are showcased. The possibilities of expressing one‘s individuality in the form of an accessory culminate in the A.B.P. Creator, where one can design their own individually customized accessory.