We harnessed the hygroscopic and biofluorescent behaviors of microbial cells to design sweat-responsive biohybrid wearables.

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This paper presents PneUI, an enabling technology to build shape-changing interfaces through pneumatically-actuated soft composite materials. The composite materials integrate the capabilities of both input sensing and active shape output. This is enabled by the composites' multi-layer structures with different mechanical or electrical properties. The shape changing states are computationally controllable through pneumatics and pre-defined structure. We explore the design space of PneUI through four applications: height changing tangible phicons, a shape changing mobile, a transformable tablet case and a shape shifting lamp.

Figure 1: Example applications. (a) Living teabags; (b) "Second Skin" as responsive clothing; (c) Animated origami toys; (d) Artificial plants that change both form and color; (e) Transformable lampshade. ABSTRACTNature has engineered its own actuators, as well as the efficient material composition, geometry and structure to utilize its actuators and achieve functional transformation. Based on the natural phenomenon of cells' hygromorphic transformation, we introduce the living Bacillus Subtilis natto cell as a humidity sensitive nanoactuator. In this paper, we unfold the process of exploring and comparing cell types that are proper for HCI use, the development of the composite biofilm, the development of the responsive structures, the control setup for actuating biofilms, and a simulation and fabrication platform. Finally, we provide a variety of application designs, with and without computer control to demonstrate the potential of our bio actuators. Through this paper, we intend to enable the use of natto cells and our platform technologies for HCI researchers, designers and bio-hackers. More generally, we try to encourage the research and use of biological responsive materials and interdisciplinary research in HCI.

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