Project

Soft Exchange: Interaction Design with Biological Interfaces

The boundaries and fabric of human experience are continuously redefined by microorganisms, interacting at an imperceptible scale. Though hidden, these systems condition our bodies, environment, and even sensibilities and desires. The proposed works introduce a model of interaction in which the microbiome is an extension of the human sensory system, accessed through a series of biological interfaces that enable exchange. Biological Interfaces transfer discrete behaviors of microbes into information across scales, where it may be manipulated, even if unseen. In the same way the field of HCI has articulated our exchanges with electronic signals, Soft Exchange opens up the question of how to design for this other invisible, though present, and vital material.