Living Textiles and Microbiomes as Tangible Data Interfaces

This studio is fully in-person. Structured into four modules, this full day studio bridges biological science, material experimentation, and interaction design. Hands-on activities include mapping microbial biomes, experimenting with biobased responsive materials and dyes, and designing biointeractive textile prototypes. Through examples from Microbial HCI, such as biofilm-based displays, olfactory biosensors, and embroidered living circuits, participants will learn how to transform invisible microbial interactions into perceivable experiences. Participants will gain both conceptual and practical understanding of how synthetic biology, computation, and craft can converge to make microbial interactions tangible, aesthetic, and socially meaningful, expanding the scope of what interaction design can be when materials are alive, responsive, and cohabiting

Module One: Computing with Microbes 

This Module introduces microbial computation through the lens of Whole-Cell Biosensors (WCBSs), framing microbes as living processors capable of sensing, computing, and expressing environmental information through visible or material change. Through short case studies, participants reconsider microbes as active design collaborators rather than passive biological matter. Guided reflection prompts participants to identify surprises, opportunities, and speculative “What If” questions, collectively building a shared landscape of microbial imagination. 

The session then shifts from speculation to structure. Participants examine what microbes require to survive: moisture, nutrients, temperature, substrate, and translate these constraints into design principles for working with living systems. Through a biomapping exercise, they identify what they want to sense, where sensing might occur on the body or in the environment, and how a microbial response could manifest. By the end of the module, participants have developed a mapped sensing concept grounded in microbial needs, preparing them to transition into hands-on biofabrication and material prototyping in the following session.

Module Two: Biointeractive Textiles 

Fabrication Connected to the maps drawn in Module 1, participants will have the opportunity to make their maps tangible through an exploration of molding and weaving biobased fibers and textiles that react to environmental stimuli, connecting material transformation to non-digital interactivity.

Hands-on activity: Biofiber fabrication and responsive textiles fabrication. In the Biomapping exercise, participants have had the opportunity to draw their preferred sensing map, identifying body sites and environmental conditions, which are then matched to interactive dyes such as pH-sensitive pigments and thermochromic materials. These maps will then be used to create interactive textiles. With a 3D-printed weaving loom, participants can weave threads into various patterns, which are then encased in an alginate bioplastic with responsive pigments selected during the mapping process. Once constructed, these textiles can be cut and shaped into various shapes that correlate to their mapped site.  

Module Three: Futuring New Materials for Living Wearables. 

The final module synthesizes ideas from microbial computation and biointeractive textile fabrication to consider future directions for living materials in wearable design. The session invites reflection on how new materials, biofabricated, microbial, and responsive, can expand the language of interaction design and redefine what it means to design with, rather than for, living systems. 

Participants examine how bio-based and living textiles can become systems that sense, adapt, age, and form long-term relationships with the body. The emphasis is on materials as active and evolving, shaped by time, use, and environment rather than static substrates or purely technical components. The session also explores how living wearables might engage with health, wellness, and environmental monitoring by communicating through material change, such as shifts in color, texture, or growth. 

Benefits for Attendees

·   Develop an understanding of microbiomes as design and interaction partners.

·   Learn methods for embedding biological function into textile materials.

·   Explore open-source AI tools that inform bio-based material experimentation.

·   Reflect critically on the ethical and experiential dimensions of living wearables.