Surfacing Livingness in Microbial Displays: A Design Taxonomy for HCI

Title of the Paper

Surfacing Livingness in Microbial Displays: A Design Taxonomy for HCI

Bibliographic Information

• Subject Area: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Biodesign, Microbe-Technology Interaction
• Keywords: Microbes, Biological Characteristics, Bioaesthetics, Bio-HCI, Biodesign, Taxonomy

Research Background and Problem Statement

• What problems or challenges did the authors identify?

  • While the ecological importance of microbes in nature is increasingly recognized, there is a lack of systematic tools in the HCI field to support their use. Designers lack effective methods to showcase the "livingness" of microbes.
  • Due to the small size of microbes, the time scale of their behaviors (e.g., slow growth or movement), and their semantic ambiguity, the "livingness" of microbes is often difficult for humans to perceive.
  • Existing microbial-HCI designs often treat microbes as interactive materials, focusing on their functionality while neglecting their existence as co-living entities and their well-being.

• Why is this problem important?

  • Showcasing the "livingness" of microbes can foster a deeper understanding of them, inspire care for their existence, and provide design support for their biological welfare.
  • Microbes are part of the non-human domain, and studying their application in HCI not only extends the frontier of biodesign but also promotes a non-anthropocentric design approach.

• Research Motivation and Related Work

  • The motivation of this study is to develop a design taxonomy that helps designers better "surface" the "livingness" of microbes, thereby enhancing human-microbe interaction and experience.
  • This work builds on literature in bio-HCI, plant and animal interaction design, and biological sensing capabilities (e.g., phenomena like biofluorescence or fermentation) and extends existing research to address the specific needs of microbial displays.

Solution

• Proposed Method or Solution

  • The paper proposes a "Design Taxonomy for Surfacing Livingness in Microbial Displays," which includes six design mechanisms: 1) Canvassing, 2) Marking, 3) Magnifying, 4) Translating, 5) Nudging, and 6) Molecular Programming.
  • The taxonomy provides a modular design perspective to help designers strategically reveal the "livingness" of microbes.

• Innovative Aspects of the Solution

  • It breaks away from traditional human-centered design approaches for microbial displays, offering diverse design methods.
  • The taxonomy is tunable, allowing designers to dynamically adjust the display methods of microbes based on specific project needs.
  • It emphasizes the integrity and ethical considerations of microbial entities, with the taxonomy arranged in order of low to high levels of technological intervention.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques

  1. Systematic Literature and Case Collection: Collect 45 design cases involving microbes from the HCI and biodesign fields, analyzing their forms, purposes, and implementation methods.
  2. Design Mechanism Categorization: Classify microbial displays into six levels, each corresponding to different degrees of technological control and human intervention in the microbial living environment.
  3. Case Study Validation: Use a specific microbe (e.g., Flavobacteria) as an example to validate the taxonomy's applicability, exploring the impact of different design mechanisms on microbial display outcomes.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Results Achieved

  • Developed a six-level taxonomy as a theoretical framework for designers to showcase the "livingness" of microbes:
    • Canvassing: Providing a display background or canvas where microbes can survive.
    • Marking: Enhancing the visual appearance of microbes using markers, such as adding background textures.
    • Magnifying: Enhancing visibility by magnifying microbes through optical devices.
    • Translating: Translating microbial activities or characteristics into digital outputs (e.g., animations).
    • Nudging: Stimulating microbes to reveal their "livingness" through physical or chemical interventions.
    • Molecular Programming: Directly modifying microbial genes for more precise control of displays.
  • Demonstrated how to integrate these design mechanisms in a non-anthropocentric manner through a case study of Flavobacteria, proposing new concepts for microbial interaction (e.g., interactive installations in open environments, dynamic public displays).

• Comparison with Existing Solutions

  • Provides sensitive design tools specifically tailored for microbes, making it more targeted than general biodesign frameworks.
  • Highlights the balance designers must strike between microbial integrity (e.g., ethical considerations of genetic modification) and technological convenience.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results

  • Validated the taxonomy's practicality through literature review and case studies. For example, by adjusting the openness of Flavobacteria's canvas, magnification levels, and translation methods, the "livingness" of microbes was not only enhanced but also expanded their design potential.

• Limitations and Future Directions

  • Limitations:
    • The current taxonomy primarily focuses on visual perception and has not fully explored the potential of other human senses, such as smell and touch.
    • It is based on published cases, potentially overlooking undocumented practices.
  • Future Directions:
    • Expand the taxonomy to cover more sensory modalities (e.g., smell, sound) to more systematically capture the complexity of human-microbe interactions.
    • Explore microbial display design in open environments, such as increasing ecological display cases.
    • Deepen research on ethical challenges in non-anthropocentric design processes, particularly in scenarios where molecular programming introduces complex ethical issues.