Image credit: Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratory.

Through his work, Ishiguro investigates the potential for sonzaikan (which roughly translates as "human presence") in artificial objects. This is perhaps clearest in his Geminoids, which have even starred as theater actors, but also extends to other projects. The Hugvie, for example, is a fairly basic device, meant to give the feeling that a partner on the phone is actually there. It's shaped like a huggable humanoid pillow, and is fitted with a pocket for your phone and motors to generate heartbeats in sync with the remote partner's tone.

"This field of science in Japan isn't just about the technology."

Although What About the Heart is primarily a collection of photography, it addresses complex issues. "This field of science in Japan isn't just about the technology," Whitton tells The Verge. "The pursuit of these answers is motivated by gaining knowledge about life and death ... I was interested in the underlying themes in this subject matter; the uncanny, the double, the unfamiliar, fiction, and fantasy."

One of Whitton's favorite images is of an outdated Geminoid sitting in the lab alone. "There is a real sense of melancholy to the image," she explains. "The Geminoid, as an android robot, has fallen behind in the high-tech developments of robotics today, and is melancholically obsolete not only in its field of science, but personally to Ishiguro, who has made a older-looking version ... As Ishiguro faces his immortality, the Geminoid faces his inescapable teleology."

Nestled between photos of disembodied faces and half-completed android children, there's a particularly striking interview excerpt, from which the project takes its name. When Ishiguro muses that "the definition of human will be more complicated" as we increasingly rely on artificial organs, Whitton poses the emotive question: "What about the heart?"

"The heart is the easiest part," Ishiguro replies. "Artificial hearts are very popular now. The liver is more difficult."