Exploring Biofoam as a Material for Tangible Interaction

Abstract

Figure 1: Various biofoam samples created with diferent fabrication techniques and modifcations of the base recipe: a. the base recipe in various thicknesses; b. colored with turmeric; c. in segments on top of a rubbery biofoam base; d. hardened and improved water permeability with pine tree sap; e. colored with walnut powder and cast in custom molds; f. embroidered with conductive thread; g. conductive biofoam with stainless steel fbers; h. extruded into a mesh.

SolderlessPCB: Reusing Electronic Components in PCB Prototyping through Detachable 3D Printed Housings

“…In particular, prior efforts have demonstrated methods to reduce the environmental impact of waste generated during the design process by utilizing decomposable and recyclable materials [13,30,47,50] or bio-materials [4,5,20,28,34]. However, materials with unique properties are often not easily replaceable with eco-friendly alternatives, which may require special fabrication processes [45] or certain levels of manual manipulations [6,36,55]. Besides using alternative materials, much research has explored the concepts of repairing and repurposing wasted materials, or "unmake" artifacts that are beyond their design lifespan [17,27,32,35,39,40,51].…”

From Exploration to End of Life: Unpacking Sustainability in Physicalization Practices

“…However, as Brynjarsdottir et al argued, focus on persuasive technologies can overlook critical social dynamics inherent in addressing environmental issues, and design studies usually lack evidence for long-term environmental impact [15]. Recent efforts in Sustainable HCI have started to focus on innovative design processes intended to reduce environmental impact, including the use of biodegradable materials, such as biofoam [49], natural materials such as clay [12] or leaves [76], or even living organisms [11]. Additionally, the concepts of un-fabrication [86] and unmaking [77] also shed light on the value of reusing or evolving existing artifacts.…”

“…This strategy of breaking physicalizations down is closely related to the concepts of unfabrication [86] and unmaking [77]. Similarly, utilizing biodegradable materials like foam [49] or clay [12] facilitates material reuse at the end of a physicalization's life cycle. Incorporating mechanical, chemical, and biological actuators into physicalizations could yield benefits comparable to electronic counterparts while potentially being more ecologically friendly [6].…”

Contact Resistance Sensing for Touch and Squeeze Interactions

“…However, if a completely soft experience is expected, hard components could distract from the experience of softness when squeezing. Other researchers have proposed soft conductive materials as strain/pressure sensors, such as conductive wool [6,16,27,37,38] and conductive foam [8,9,15,27,28,39,46]. One interesting characteristic of these material is that their resistance decreases when being pressed.…”

“…These interfaces come in different sizes, ranging from finger interaction [14,15,25] to hand interaction [16,24,26] to whole body interactions [13,27]. With regard to sensing mechanisms, several novel sensing materials or new strategies for building soft sensors have been proposed [12,[28][29][30][31]. However, these approaches are often relatively complex to implement and might require access to chemistry labs and costly materials.…”