Testigos Silenciosos
Turning everyday technology into a silent witness against domestic violence
Short Description...
Creative Process
The Brief: This was a self-initiated project driven by a real concern: exploring how Whirlpool’s smart-home technology could be responsibly repurposed to offer protection inside the home, beyond convenience.
The Insight: Many women remain trapped in cycles of domestic violence because there are no witnesses. Without sustained evidence, taking legal action is often impossible. Silence doesn’t mean nothing happened. It means no one was there to prove it.
The Idea: Testigos Silenciosos. A conceptual system that reimagines Whirlpool’s smart appliances as silent witnesses; documenting patterns of domestic violence without alerting the aggressor,
What we did: We explored how technology already embedded in Whirlpool’s smart appliances such as voice recognition and vibration sensors, could be ethically enhanced through AI to identify recurring patterns associated with domestic violence.
Rather than reacting to isolated incidents, the system focuses on repetition; discretely activating encrypted audio recordings only when risk patterns are detected, and securely storing them as potential evidence accessible solely to the victim.
Awareness of the system is shared exclusively through NGO’s, shelters, healthcare providers, and discreet brand-owned touch points, ensuring women can access help without raising suspicion at home.
Why it matters: Whirlpool is present in millions of homes. In spaces where violence often goes unseen, presence matters. By turning everyday appliances into silent witnesses, Testigos Silenciosos reframes innovation not as a feature, but as a safeguard, helping transform silence into proof, and presence into protection.
Creative Process
The Brief: This was a self-initiated project driven by a real concern: exploring how Whirlpool’s smart-home technology could be responsibly repurposed to offer protection inside the home, beyond convenience.
The Insight: Many women remain trapped in cycles of domestic violence because there are no witnesses. Without sustained evidence, taking legal action is often impossible. Silence doesn’t mean nothing happened. It means no one was there to prove it.
The Idea: Testigos Silenciosos. A conceptual system that reimagines Whirlpool’s smart appliances as silent witnesses; documenting patterns of domestic violence without alerting the aggressor,
What we did: We explored how technology already embedded in Whirlpool’s smart appliances such as voice recognition and vibration sensors, could be ethically enhanced through AI to identify recurring patterns associated with domestic violence.
Rather than reacting to isolated incidents, the system focuses on repetition; discretely activating encrypted audio recordings only when risk patterns are detected, and securely storing them as potential evidence accessible solely to the victim.
Awareness of the system is shared exclusively through NGO’s, shelters, healthcare providers, and discreet brand-owned touch points, ensuring women can access help without raising suspicion at home.
Why it matters: Whirlpool is present in millions of homes. In spaces where violence often goes unseen, presence matters. By turning everyday appliances into silent witnesses, Testigos Silenciosos reframes innovation not as a feature, but as a safeguard, helping transform silence into proof, and presence into protection.
