Tangible Response
Imaginations of novel tangible interactions
Reflections on research
This week we were assigned three papers that describe the incredible interactions made possible by applications of physical computing on organic material (human and not):
I found these papers intellectually stimulating and inspiring. I was particularly impressed by the first paper for proposing to explore novel interactions using insertable wearables. Though the real-world implementation of such systems may require a lot more research and ethical considerations, the idea of being able to “use of the body’s roughly two square meters of skin as a canvas” for ubiquitous interaction is really cool.
You Put What Where?
An idea
This paper made me think if it would be possible to insert sensing/actuator fabrics within human skin. Some kind of biofiber to enhance human perception of the virtual world without any external hardware devices.
Design fiction concept: Mars Online
It isyear 3542 AD in the Mars colony. The first settlers had arrived 600 years ago and initiated the terraforming process. Due to the low gravity and thin atmosphere the process is taking a lot longer than previously anticipated. Humanity has to live underground in a connected system of ‘mole pads’*. Through massive advancements of technology the Virtual World** had grown super-realistic with light weight and conformable haptic feedback hardware. People massively rely on virtual world network to connect with each other and earth.
But 200 years ago, the discovery of a hitherto unknown element in Mars- Tactusenium (Ttm)- by the iGEM Guild has enabled a revolution in tactile technologies. A new challenger has risen to the Virtual World system. Tactusenium has a unique properties that allowed titatinum-tactusenium (Ti-Ttm) alloys to have shape memory properties without massive material degradation or temperature change. In addition, the material is biologically inert, enabling Ti-Ttm fibers to be inserted underneath the epidermis to enable ‘bio-actuation’***.
*Mole pads: A reference to an long extinct animal in Old Earth, known for digging an intricate system of burrows. Though transportation has improved over the centuries in Mars, people still lived underground as the terraforming of mars is not complete yet.
**Virtual World: In the year 2022 an ancient guild called Meta released their vision of ‘metaverse’. Through the centuries, the guild has restructured multiple times but has managed to survive. This is largely due to development of Virtual World (which is basically is an enhanced metaverse).
***Bioactuation is a new field within haptics that looks into the science of integrating Ti-Ttm fibers into biological matter to enhance motor performance. This also enabled hyper-realistic haptic feedback in the virtual world.
Skintillates
An idea
Nanoelectronic material that could be used to create new easily configurable epidermal electronics.
Design fiction concept: Skintillate Corp 2042
(adapted from my previous work)
Year 2042, humanity has figured out how to effectively use the ‘bioenergy’ generated within their bodies to power epidermal electronics. This advancement allowed people at Skintillate Corp to harness the techtoo* technology to create robust epidermal electronics that are more reliable and durable than the first garage-built skintillate prototype almost three decades ago!
*Techtoo: Advanced tattooing techniques in the 2030s used laser and nanomaterials that enabled safe and quick tattooing without the use of archaic needle-point tattooing machines. In addition, this also streamlined the tattoo-removal process that used to be both risky and tedious for centuries.
DIYbio Things
An idea
What if we can program microorganisms to graft inorganic material into human cells? Advancements in sythetic biology might enable development of biological devices/systems with inorganic properties. This could lead to a new generation of biohacking.
Design fiction concept: The iGEM Guild
The iGEM guild has its seeds in an ancient academic organization that had worked incessantly over the centuries to disseminate open-source biotechnologies. The organization has grown into a public-private consortium of guilds that fund fringe research into humane bio-augmentation for the betterment of humanity.
Tactusenium is notorious difficult to extract from Martian soil but scientists affiliated with the guild have manged to refine this process using programmable-microorganisms to extract high quality Ttm ore from Martian soil. Not only that, they used similar technology to weave Ti-Ttm alloy into human muscle fibers to enhance motor performance.
