A couple with intellectual disabilities sits at a kitchen table. The man gently tickles his wife's nose with a small paintbrush. They are both laughing.

Decoding Sole-Mates

Date:22.7.2025
Author:
Category:2025, Activism, Film, Yleinen
Avainsanat: , , , , , ,

Short film 2025. Length: 10:55 mins
Language: Finnish. Captions available: English, Dutch, Finnish

Screenplay, participatory art, edit: Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen
Cast and narration: Raisa and Reko Valavaara
Cupido of Love and Wisdom: Heikki Penttinen
Camera: Rasoul Khorram
Sound consultant: Kemal Gorey

Comissioned by 1646 Experimental Art Space
Team 1646 / Johan Gustavsson, Clara Pallí, Martha Gallego, Rianne Zijderveld
Dutch translations / Puck Kroon

With the support of MENTECH Innovation, The HUME SentiSock
Erwin van de Cruijs and Lisanne Schiphorst

Alfred Kordelin Foundation, The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux, Municipality of The Hague, Mondriaan Fonds, Stroom Den Haag

A grey Renault drives along a forest road, its driver observing the scenery through the open window. Two white canes extend from the front of the car.
Image credit: Rasoul Khorram

This short documentary explores the possibilities of technology to improve the well-being of people with disabilities. It examines stress in the lives of a couple with intellectual disabilities using SentiSocks, a soft technology developed by the Dutch company Mentech by Hume. Originally designed to detect stress in people with dementia or severe speech impairment, SentiSocks are tested in the film by a couple living in a Validia Housing unit for people with disabilities in Turku, Finland. By combining biometric data from the socks with interviews, the film aims to identify the main sources of stress affecting the participants.

A couple is sitting in their wheelchairs in a living room. A man is combing his wife's long blonde hair.
Toilet paper rolls on the bathroom floor. Behind them, there are woman's legs on a wheelchair footrest. On one foot, she wears a blue sock that measures her stress.
A blind man in a green silk shirt shoots white canes with a bow.