The Social And Digital Systems (SANDS) Group is a transdisciplinary research collective within the School of Arts, Media, and Engineering at Arizona State University. Our materially-oriented work draws on approaches from computer science, interaction design, humanities, and philosophy of technology. Our current research examines bottom-up participation in science, DIY (Do It Yourself) methods, and the mechanisms by which expertise and knowledge is scaffolded amongst communities of practice.
Solar Cooking IOS App for Recipes and Ovens
The solar cooking app is meant to be a tool to conveniently document recipes for solar cooked meals as well as designs for solar ovens. It allows solar cookers to store their recipe/oven designs, share them with others, and interact with other solar cookers. The iOS application most importantly focuses on the differences between conventional cooking and cooking food using the sun. This enables easy, and quick creation of recipes while still maintaining accuracy.
Figure 1 Figure 2
The app in its current version has a login view (figure 1) that allows login using Facebook, a main view (figure 2) that displays all the recipes/ovens added to the app so far, as well as the buttons to navigate to other functionalities. More details about the recipe (Figure 3) is possible by tapping a recipe. Viewing, and potentially editing, the logged in user’s own profile (Figure 4) is possible by tapping the settings button. Searching all existing recipes (Figure 5) according to a wide variety of constraints is possible through the search button. Finally, adding a new recipe/oven (Figure 6) is possible through the + button.
Figure 3 Figure 4
In order to gauge our target solar cooking app users on their experiences using the app and what they would want an app geared specifically for solar recipes to offer, our team conducted a workshop to help understand what the targeted users need out of such tool. Throughout the workshop, our team learned about the different things to consider while using the sun’s heat to cook. This allowed for a compiled list of possible attributes a recipe could have, including but not limited to: oven type, A recipe has to be custom geared to work with a particular oven type; outside temperature, differentiated from internal temperature of oven cooking compartment, could define the success chances of a recipe; Altitude; and tags to represent the need for redirection of the oven, potentially replaceable by a frequency of redirection attribute. Some fields apply for recipes as well as ovens.
During the workshop, users were also prompted to use the app’s version at the time; their interaction with the app was used to discover some issues with the flow and cosmetic appearance of the app. The workshop solar cooker attendees’ interaction with the app helped pave the way for new ideas to aid the upcoming user interface development.
Figure 5 Figure 6
We hope to have an initial version/prototype of the app available to users for testing this summer of 2017. By then, it is our aim to have a polished app that, in addition to the main functionalities mentioned, also allows commenting on recipes and ovens posted to the app. In an effort to continuously improve the app, testers will be encouraged to submit their experience with the interface and suggest any ideas or improvements that could help us make the app better.
BioDesign Challenge
On July 12th, the students of ASU Digital Culture and The Design School have presented their LIFE/LIGHT project at the Biogesign Challenge summit in MOMA, New York. The project was developed at AME 410 Interactive Materials course and finalized for the competition.
The summit happened for the third time, engaging enthusiasts that combine design with biotechnology. It is one of the largest biodesign events in the US and brings the attention of the growing community of designers and researchers.
Around twenty teams have participated in the Challenge this year from various schools and countries. The 1st prize was taken by the team from Central Saint Martins, UK, that have presented the concept of Quantumworm Mines. The runners-up were the students of University of Edinburgh, UK with the research project “UKEW 2029” that showed parallels between biology and socio-political trends.
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ASU project researched the potential of bioluminescent unicellular organisms and scrutinized the issue of co-habitat and control in a man-made environment. LIFE/LIGHT is an algae-driven living building system that produces fuel and light if properly taken care of.
We were designing in the middle-ground between an artifact, living nature, and humanity where the behavior of each component of the system influences its performance. (See figure 1.)
Figure 1. Concept diagram.
Choosing our components within the broad fields of nature and artifacts, we decided to look into the relationships between dinoflagellate, a capricious algae creature that illuminates ocean in a number of coastal cities, including San Diego, and architecture as a medium for most of the human activities.
LIVING ARCHITECTURE
With the increasing concerns about ecology, the notion of living architecture arises. In the age of Anthropocene, living buildings adapt to the constant flux of technological, social and environmental conditions through integration with living nature.
The best example of such thing, probably, would be the rice paddles in South Vietnam (image 1), a sustainable artifact of agriculture and built environment that existed for centuries.
Image 1. Rice paddles in South Vietnam, stock photo.
Among other inspirational examples are the Algae-fueled building in Hamburg designed by ARUP (image 2), the proposal by Mitchell Joachim for homes grown like plants (image 3), and the interactive installation by David Benjamin that visualized ecological conditions for the citizens of Seoul (image 4).
Image 2. BIQ algae-powered building in Hamburg, image courtesy of ARUP.
Image 3. FabTreeHub, image courtesy of Mitchell Joachim.
Image 4. Living Light, Seoul, image courtesy of David Benjamin and The Living New York.
DINOFLAGELLATE
Image 5. Bioluminescent dinoflagellate, stock photo.
Dinoflagellates are unicellular algae plankton chosen for the LIFE/LIGHT project due to the its qualities:
Bioluminescence
Image 5. Bioluminescent jellyfish, stock photo.
Bioluminescence is the ability of living organisms to produce light. The “cold light” produced by dinoflagellate is done without wasting energy compared to conventional
electrically generate light.
When agitated by movement, algae colony produces light for a short perious of time.
CO2 Consumption
Dinoflagellate photosynthesis is capable of converting CO2 in glucose. This provides residual potential energy within cultures longer after decay.
Conversion to biofuel
Dinoflagellates may contain large amounts of high-quality lipids, the principal component of fatty acid methyl esters. The harvest of these organisms provides a suitable choice as a bioresource for biodiesel production.
Natural medium
Dinoflagellates are marine organisms that thrive in the natural medium of marine water. It makes them suitable for growth in the coastal cities with the use of natural salt water resources only.
ALGAE AT DAR
The dinoflagellates were grown in SANDS lab as part of the Digital Art Ranch at ASU.
This space supports DIY biology as well as other forms of researching interactive materials (image 6).
Image 6. The experience of working with dinoflagellates, photos from DAR.
Growing algae takes a lot of patience and attentiveness. Not only we had to keep in a specific medium for the lack of fresh marine water, but also synchronise its day and night cycles with the lab operating hours.
During the day cycle (~12 hours), photosynthesis happens, and algae transform CO2 into glucose. During the night cycle (~12 hours also), they multiply and show bioluminiscense if agitated. Like humans, dinoflagellates are active during the day, rest during the night, and are very irritated when their rest is interrupted.
The optimal living condition for dinoflagellate is a room temperature 18 to 24°C (65 to 75°F) and avoiding rapid temperature fluctuations. This was regulated using a white LED lamp, which can be changed for a cool white fluorescent light.
Challenges
Time was a limiting factor as cultures would take a week or two to regain its properties from packaging. This opened for the possibility that cultures order may have been non-lively upon arrival.
Also the time for sub-dividing cultures takes 3-4 weeks, again letting the subcultures regain their properties. Then when testing cultures, this would have to be done over a span of days to few weeks to determine the necessary action for culturing.
A typical dinoflagellate flash of light contains about 100 million photons and lasts about a tenth of a second. In a testing format, it is suggested to use a control amount and compare the luminous value on the scale of 10. Also, one has to be very careful not to “stimulate” the culture before you actually measuring their light output because the first time they flash they produce a lot more light than each successive flash.
Learned
Patience and constantly being aware of the cultures. The cultures can be unforgiving when they begin to use bio luminescence and taking additional time to recharge before seeing the effect again. Also there was a problem to document the effect during an appropriate time.For circadian rhythms to
For circadian rhythms to be aligned with documentation during the day. The cultures would be in a night cycle during the day. Causing a problem of space, we had to devise a small container that would keep temperatures low and block enough light pollution from the room it was placed in.
DINOFLAGELLATE BUILDING FACADE SYSTEM
The project is a living building system that is attached to buildings in coastal cities and relies on algae for light and fuel production. It utilizes ocean water resources as a medium for dinoflagellate. It consists of tubes filled with algae-infused fluid, distributed operational nodes that control the water flow and a controlling device.
Image 7. Facade system sketch
The system works in 3 different modus operandi: day, night and
harvesting organic residues for biofuel production.
System elements
Figure 2. System elements
Day mode
During the day, the water is supplied from the ocean water resources and distributed to the LIFE/LIGHT and other building systems, e.g. cooling. The algae-infused fluid flows into the tubes attached to a building facade and exposed to the sun.
Figure 3. Day mode
Night mode
At night, algae-infused water fills the interior tube system that prevents its exposure to
city night illumination. When moved, the fluid gives away cold light that supports quiet
night activities inside a building.
In this mode, the most interaction between a human and the system happens. Human and algae share the same habitat and have to live in harmony in order for the system to work. If the night cycle is distracted by a human’s late night activities, algae do not multiply. When a person moves within the space with the algae tubes, they also move, arousing bioluminescence and illuminating the space.
Figure 4. Night mode
Harvest mode
At the end of dinoflagellates life cycle, they become a residual organic matter that can be harvested in order to produce biofuel.
Figure 5. Night mode
Operational node
The node serves an illustration to a highway of tracks within a system.
There would be numerous tubes to ensure the cultures are filtering, harvesting and transport to the correct location.
Image 8. Operational node
Controlling node
Inspired by thermostats, the control unit provides a basis for displaying information and controlling additional systems in a house.
The 3 buttons would allow for the most critical options of the system to be chosen.
Additionally, the display provides a small sample of the dinoflagellates that would be tested. Depending on the condition of the sample and the previous sample was taken, the filter option could be accepted. Cycling the dinoflagellate culture and providing more medium.
Image 9. Controlling node
The origin of the design needed to resemble a simple form of communication to a user that performs maintenance with the architecture embedded system. Not only would it provide given information on the LCD screen but it has the ability to control other system operations as needed.
Image 10. Inspiration for the controlling node. Image courtesy of Honeywell.
The questions then are:
What is the boundary between an artifact and nature? Is the LIFE/LIGHT system alive?
Would you co-inhabit space in algae and adjust your habits so that both species thrive or control it remotely and transform living creatures into a utility?
The project was submitted by Loren Benally and Veronika Volkova and contributed by Jacob Sullivan and Ryan Wertz
Antibiotic-responsive bioart art class for junior and high school students
As part of the Digital Culture Summer Institute, the SANDS lab organized a bioart module for junior and high school students. Working with Cassandra Barrett and Kat Fowler, we developed a week-long summer camp course that invites students to create petri dish art using bacteria and antibiotic substances.
Our design studio was recently approved for BSL-1 (biosafety level 1) clearance, which means we can now (officially) work with minimally risky bacteria and procedures. Fun fact: we might be the first design lab to get this clearance through the ‘proper’ layers of paperwork and inspections at our University!
Our work embraces the DIYbio movement, which aims to make biology accessible outside of professional laboratories. So during the first day of camp, we showed the students how to sterilize lab equipment with a pressure cooker. According to the CDC guidelines, this means the materials must be kept at 121°C and 15psi for 30 minutes. It’s usually a pretty exciting 30 minutes to be watching the pressure cooker.
The next few days of the camp were spent practicing aseptic (sterile) lab technique to streak plates with different pigmented bacteria. We used our trusty old DIY incubator that we made in-house to culture our art at 26C.
We used several regular antibiotics (Ampicillin and Streptomycin) as well as antibiotic items the students brought from home to shape the growth of the bacteria. Essentially, we did the Kirby–Bauer diffusion test for antibiotic sensitivity, whereby growth is hindered around the effective antibiotics.
Our students brought an impressive and very creative range of substances to test for antibiotic properties, including handsoap, pennies, dog antibiotics, neosporin (very effective), tylenol, and toothpaste (not very effective at killing bacteria it turns out!).
We also added food coloring to our media to add a background color to the petri dish art.
For the final project, we asked the students first to sketch out the layout for their bacteria art piece, including what bacteria, background color, and antibiotic substances they wanted to use on their petri dishes. Can we say we did rapid lo-fi prototyping for biology 🙂 ?
The resulting bacteria images inspired us to write bioart haikus, and some of these were pretty deep.
Finally, the students used a graphic design program to convert their favorite petri dish images into stencils for vinyl cutting and screenprinting. The last day day of screenprinting was chaotic and messy, but order emerged just like the haiku said 😉
Huge thanks to everyone who helped run this awesome class, and to the creative and thoughtful students who are now excited to take a bio course at their schools even if they don’t get a printed T-shirt out of it next time.
3D-Designed Molds for Baking and Freezing
This is a continuation of Melting Materials for Mold Making, where we describe some of our experiments to create molds of wax, chocolate, and jello using 3D printed models and silicone molds.
Here we are presenting new additions to the model making software and further experiments with different types of food.
3D Model Generator Additions
The program we have been using to generate our models works by taking a black and white 2D image and transforming it into a depth map, where the lighter parts of the image are raised up and the dark parts are lowered. In order to save on time and material costs for the 3D printing, we have also made the models hollow in the back.
Below-left: photograph of Antonio Canova’s Bust of Venus Italica. Center: bas-relief 3D model generated from that picture. Right: back of the 3D model
In addition, we created a version of the program that uses a color signifier (in this case, red) to subtract part of the image from the finished model. This way, the resulting model will not be limited to the rectangular dimensions of the original 2D image.
Below: model generated using the version of the program that subtracts red space. Left: Antonio Canova’s Bust of Venus Italica with red background. Middle: generated model. Right: back of model.
As in Melting Materials for Mold Making, silicone putty is used to create a negative of the 3D model. All food will then be cast using the silicone putty mold and will have no direct contact with the 3D print. This is because 1) the flexibility of silicone makes it significantly easier to remove molds after they have hardened, and 2) while we are using food safe 3D printed materials, the temperature limits of 3D printed material food safety is not entirely known. For the following food tests, we specifically chose to use Silicone Plastique putty, since it is food safe and can withstand temperatures up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Baking Tests
Before each baking test, the silicone mold was throughly washed and sprayed with cooking spray.
Sugar cookie – We found that Pillsbury sugar cookies (oven, 350 F, 12 minutes) did not closely stick to the mold, largely because of air pockets that formed in the cookie. Below-left: silicone mold. Right: sugar cookie.
Pancake – While we could not get a complete result with the Aunt Jemima pancake mix, we were able to get some promising details in the pancakes, and further experiments with cooking time / temperature / pancake mix could likely result in a functional pancake mold.
Below-left: (oven, 375 F, 12 minutes) Pancake was still gooey
Below-center: (oven, 375 F, 17 minutes) Pancake was fluffy, though still slightly undercooked. Part with detail (hair) stuck to silicone mold
Below-right: (oven, 375 F, 12 minutes) Significantly less batter was poured into the mold with the hope that it would cook faster. This was successful, and the resulting pancake was fully cooked. Part of the pancake was stuck to the mold, but some nice detailing (bun and part of hair) was successfully preserved.
Eggs – The eggs cooked fairly evenly in the oven and were overall easy to remove from the mold without causing any damage. They were also successful in capturing details from the silicone mold.
Sunny side up (oven, 350 F, 12 minutes)
Below-left: sunny side up egg still in mold. Center: egg removed from mold with yoke still intact. Right: yoke broken open
Whisked egg (oven, 350 F, 12 minutes)
Below-left: whisked egg still in mold. Right: egg taken out of mold. Part of the egg was still slightly gooey, which caused a chunk of the hair to become stuck to the silicone mold.
Freezing Tests
Liquid was poured into the silicone mold and then placed in the freezer overnight. Overall, the frozen models were the most successful in capturing fine details from the silicone mold.
Below-left: ice (frozen tap water). Right: popsicle made from Bolthouse Farms breakfast smoothie.
AME to host TEI 2019
Our bid to host TEI 2019, the fourteenth International ACM Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction at AME has been officially accepted!
We will host the conference in Tempe Arizona, a vibrant and growing Sonoran desert city. The main venue, the Tempe Mission Palms, is walking distance to the ASU Campus and in the heart of Tempe shops, bars, and galleries. The conference rooms, AV services, catering, palm courtyard, and rooftop pool reception deck will offer a flexible meeting space for academic and social gatherings during the conference. Phoenix is well known as an ideal winter destination, boasting average high temperatures in February ranging from 68 to 73 degrees Fahrenheit and a low chance of precipitation, while much of the rest of the northern hemisphere may be suffering from severe winter weather.
Hybrid Materials
Our bid proposed the theme of Hybrid Materials with the aim of strengthening transdisciplinary tries across the tangible interaction, HCI, material sciences, social sciences, and arts communities. Gaining increasing momentum over the last five years, the material turn and its effect within HCI has generated development in numerous fields of interest to the TEI community.
Over the past few years, TEI research has increasingly embraced hybridity, whether through material explorations of composites such as bioelectronic, on-body, or active materials, or theoretical inquiries into socio-technical systems as hybrid assemblies. The theme of Hybrid Materials will continue to catalyze this exciting trend of tangible interaction research at the intersection of social, technical, biological, and artistic systems. Topics focusing on hybridity in interaction design include but are not limited to:
- active materials
- materiality
- material as interface
- expressive computing
- human perception
- bioelectronic systems and interactions
- on-body computing
- new materialism
- computer as material
- sociotechnical assemblies
- design things
- seamful computing
- hybrid sense-making
- transdisciplinarity and HCI
- rapid prototyping
- participatory design
- productive tensions in design
Thanks to everyone who helped and contributed to our bid. On behalf of AME, we are really excited and very honored to host the conference in 2019!
Designing for Extreme Heat
In the wake of global climate change, our world is projected to experience more extreme heat waves over the next few decades.
Phoenix, Arizona, where this research was conducted, is one of the hottest locations on the planet and presents a testbed for understanding and addressing heat-related challenges. This research focuses on adaptation as a design strategy that compliments existing approaches to mitigate human impact on the environment.
We held a summer-long diary study that helped us to understand how extreme heat impacts human lives and how participants cope with extreme heat.
Above: Data from our diary study of extreme heat: thermal camera image captured by a participant and participants’ journals
These findings motivated our critical making work themed around adaption, focusing on artifacts for visualizing, coping with, and utilizing extreme heat. In constructing these artifacts, we were able to critically reflect on both the benefits and drawbacks of designing for adaptation.
Above: Solar Cooker made from re-purposed materials
Above: A sensor-enabled hot composter deployed outside
Above: Solar-powered chiller
Above: “Phoenix, a survivor’s guide” is designed to provide local knowledge and resources to the uninitiated in surviving the extremes of the desert climate. The survival guide is intended as a low-cost, DIY style, self-printed zine to be distributed amongst vulnerable populations.
Above: Visualizing extreme heat: screenprinting with thermochromic ink and a paint-based heat visualization
To see the full paper, click here.
The paper will be presented at the International Symposium for Electronic Arts (ISEA 2017).
Fluid Sound Interfaces
Fluid Sound Interfaces explore new interactions to generate sound. In this specific project, we examine how screen printing can be used as a low-cost and versatile method to help with sound sculpting through designing malleable, reproducible musical instruments.
The HCI community has seen an evolution of printing mechanisms beyond producing static visual components to create interactive artifacts such as paper circuits, printable touch sensors, and printed thin-film displays.
We focus on screen printing as a DIY fabrication process that uniquely complements existing processes for creating low-cost and easily replicable interactive systems. As part of this process, low-cost conductive screen printing inks are applied to a range of substrate materials and combined with an Arduino-based circuit and music processing software to support new interactions and performance scenarios in the domain of music making.
What is more, research into haptic and tangible musical interfaces has explored methods for transducing gestural information into the sonic realm through force feedback controllers, as well as malleable interfaces. These approaches imagine interaction with physical materials as a means to ‘sculpt’ digital sound. Furthermore, we propose that the very nature of the substrate materials—which could be folded, bent, stretched, or even cut or torn during performance—offer a rich set of affordances for manipulating sonic material.
Our research themes will be situated at the intersection of various interdisciplinary research fields involving design, human-computer interaction, and tangible media. Beyond the above-mentioned application in music and sound, we are also thinking about the wider application of screen printing with different material and sensor techniques for more user groups.
