From wet lab bench to tangible virtual experiment

Abstract

SynFlo is an interactive installation that utilizes tangible interaction to make core concepts of synthetic biology accessible to the public. This playful installation allows users to create useful virtual life forms from standardized genetic components through the manipulation of augmented object that mirror scientific instruments in order to explore synthetic biology concepts and protocols. These virtual E. coli, can serve as environmental biosensors that when deployed into an environment represented by a tabletop computer, detect toxins and change their color as an indicator. The goal of this project is to explore ways to develop effective interactive activities for outreach in STEM without the limitations of access to a lab bench while communicating the excitement of cutting-edge research.

Exploring the design space of gestural interaction with active tokens through user-defined gestures

“…SixForty by Four-Eighty [7] is an art installation that uses a set of gestures for manipulating "tile" displays. SynFlo [59] is an interactive installation for introducing Synthetic Biology concepts to non-scientists. It utilizes Sifteo cubes to simulate a wet-lab bench and evoke gestures such as pouring and shaking.…”

Active Pathways

“…It does, however, allow users to apply various statistical tests on a dataset. Other examples include the G-nome Surfer [30], a multi-touch tabletop system for collaborative exploration of genomic databases; SynFlo [39], a tangible tabletop for introducing synthetic biology concepts to non-experts, and Eugenie [15], a tangible tabletop interface for helping synthetic biologists to explore of large datasets through the construction of complex queries. A more recent tabletop and active tangiblebased system called Sparse Tangibles [1] supports crossplatform collaborative gene network exploration using a Web interface.…”

“…Learning Collaboration Modeling Project GROPE [6] Visual and haptic displays Yes Unclear No Direct-manipulation animations [7] Interactive animations with auditory, visual, haptic feedback Yes No No VisANT [16] Conventional desktop interactions on a Web browser No No Partially Cytoscape [31] Conventional desktop interactions No No Partially Augmented Chemistry [13,14] Desktop and tangible interactions, and augmented reality Yes No Yes a-book [19] Augmented notebooks as active tangibles and stylus Yes Partially No Immersive interface for DNA [29] Various tangible 3D input devices No Unclear Unclear eLabBench [35] Stylus, mouse/keyboard, tangibles, and physical buttons Yes Yes Partially The G-nome Surfer [30] Multi-touch tabletop Yes Yes No Systems Dynamics [27] Tabletop and tangibles, and external display Unclear Yes Unclear SynFlo [39] Tabletop and active tangibles Yes Unclear No Eugenie [15] Tabletop and active tangibles Yes Yes No Sparse Tangibles [1] Tabletop and active tangibles Yes Yes No Kinesthetic Pathways [38] Tabletop [22]). It did not support model construction.…”

“…Similar to the existing Eugenie [15] and SyFlo [39] systems, we employ active tangibles in combination with an interactive tabletop, however we focus more on the building, as well as the visualization and exploration of dynamic models to support conceptual understanding. To achieve this, we extended the Kinesthetic Pathways project to provide a complete system for both model construction and fitting tasks that is based on the use of multiple active tangibles, programmable physical objects with integrated display, sensing, or actuation technologies, that can be used both off and on an interactive tabletop display surface.…”

SynFlo

“…The evaluation of this prototype indicated that although we designed SynFlo to utilize gestures that mimic physical actions performed in the lab, users did not always understand these metaphors. This observation led to a redesign which resulted in a second prototype [34], which embedded the Sifteo Cubes within evocative concrete tangibles that represent lab instruments and afford physical actions such as shaking, pouring, and flipping. The toxin tokens and the interaction with the tabletop remained the same.…”