µMe: Exploring the Human Microbiome as an Intimate Material for Living Interfaces
Awards: Best Paper Honorable Mention at ACM DIS’23
People: Fiona Bell, Michelle Ramsahoye, Joshua Coffie, Julia Tung, and Mirela Alistar
Year: 2021-2024
Description: The human body is home to an unseen microbial ecosystem of mostly bacteria and fungi that live in harmony with us. We refer to the totality of these microbes as the microbiome. In this work, we explore the skin microbiome as an intimate material for designing living interfaces by growing our microbiome to become visible to the human eye, examining how different environmental parameters influence the microbiome, and investigating how our daily interactions can impact the microbiome. We demonstrate several wearable applications that reveal and control the microbiome as a textile dye.
Outcomes: ACM DIS’23 Paper, ACM HTTF’24 Paper