‘Human-Bacteria Interfaces’ Concept presented at the Driving The Human Event in Berlin

Our multidisciplinary Team ‘Human-Bacteria Interfaces’ had the chance to present their research concept about a biosensor in the built environment in Berlin as part of the Driving The Human Initiative in October 2021. 

About Driving The Human

Driving the Human is a catalyst for experimentation, shaping sustainable and collective futures that combine science, technology, and the arts in a transdisciplinary and collaborative approach. From 2020 to 2023, the scientific and artistic collaboration Driving the Human supports the development of seven tangible prototypes responding to complex contemporary scenarios. 

The hybrid event in October was displaying 21 Visions for Eco-social Renewal, which were pre-selected in an Open Call out of over 1000 applications from 99 countries. The chosen concepts anticipate tackling some of the most critical questions of our time addressing e.g. the circular economy, artificial intelligence, or the restoration of indigenous knowledge, raising questions on how humanity can move from a parasitic towards a symbiotic relationship with nature.

After the exhibition in October 2021 a Jury will award 7 out of the presented 21 Concept with support and funding for further development. The project is jointly led by four partner institutions – acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering, Forecast, the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design and ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and supported by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conversation and Nuclear Safety. The network offers expert knowledge and skills to foster the various prototype developments. 

The Human-Bacteria Interface

Team

The multidisciplinary Group of the HBBE based PhD researchers consists of Anne-Sofie Belling (Creative Technologist), Bea Delgado Corrales (Microbiology), Romy Kaiser (Living Textiles) and Paula Nerlich (Living Textiles).

Their concept Human-Bacteria Interfaces got selected in the first round and was presented to the public and jury members from 15. to 17. of October in Berlin’s Radialsystem cultural centre, as well as online in the form of a digital broadcast.

Concept

The Human-Bacteria Interfaces (HBI) concept examines how multi-modal interactions between humans and microbes can elicit novel ways for humans to ‘meaningfully’ collaborate and co-exist with the nonhuman within the built environment. Specifically, HBIs are tangible, living interfaces consisting of microbial consortia that interact or respond to stimuli from their surroundings by emitting signals accessible to humans through touch, smell and sight. These living interfaces are envisioned as part of an ‘ambient living intelligence’ as they respond and interact with the rhythm of its human inhabitants and surroundings.

HBIs are imagined encompassing a continuum of diverse potential implementations, however, the HBI prototype presented at the event in October, ALI (Ambient Living Intelligence), specifically focuses on using SCOBY, a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, as a medium for HBIs to facilitate human-microbial interaction through external stimuli and light. This microbial mix is mostly embedded in a cellulose structure of bacterial origin, forming a jelly-like texture, which provides an interface for microbial communication and interaction. When ALI detects stimuli in its surroundings, it will respond by activating fluorescent proteins, resulting in an atmospheric glow, making an otherwise invisible interaction visible to the human inhabitant. 

The ALI prototype was defined through a conversation with the ways in which microbial organisms sensorily and habitually engage with their surroundings. By making such elements a central part of the initial phase of ideation, potential nonhuman narratives were defined and made part of the design and knowledge process. Ways of living with nonhumans were therefore examined through an appreciation of the other’s alterity.

HBIs are examples of interspecies communication by leveraging the sensory ‘intelligence’ and reactive behaviour of microbes and making their response to a specific stimulus accessible for the human inhabitant to interact with and respond to. Through an ethos of care, reciprocal relations between human and nonhuman are at the core of this concept, materially interrogating humankind’s dependency and relations to the nonhuman world through the designed interfaces. 

Besides valuable networking and discussion with the public the research team was part of a Panel “From Bacteria to Ecosystems” raising questions on future relationships with “the Living”.

Find out more about the Driving the Human Initiative and other selected concepts at their Website.