Physical or digital cards to spark ideas for augmenting the human body.

Card Categories:

• Sense Cards: What if you could sense...? (magnetic fields, infrared, emotions, air quality, time passing)
• Body Part Cards: What if your... could do more? (fingers, skin, eyes, ears, spine)
• Environment Cards: Design for... (underwater, space, underground, extreme heat/cold)
• Purpose Cards: Enhance your... (memory, creativity, empathy, physical strength, communication)

How to Use:

1. Draw one card from each category
2. Combine them into a speculative body modification
3. Sketch the concept
4. Write a "user story" - how would someone use this?
5. Discuss ethical implications with friends

Example Combination: "Sense: Emotions" + "Body Part: Skin" + "Environment: Urban" + "Purpose: Empathy" = Skin that changes color based on others' emotional states, helping you navigate social situations in busy cities.

Structured prompts for designing speculative body modifications and prosthetics.

Worksheet Prompts:

• The Problem: What limitation or challenge does this address?
• The Modification: What changes to the body?
• The Experience: What does it feel like to use?
• The Trade-offs: What do you lose or risk?
• The Ethics: Who gets access? What could go wrong?
• The Future: How might society change if this became common?

Download Templates: Design your own worksheets based on these prompts or use them for classroom discussions and design workshops.

Tools for creating believable scenarios about bio-robotic futures.

Recommended Toolkits:

• Thing From The Future: Card game for imagining future artifacts (free download from situationlab.org)
• Near Future Laboratory: Design fiction templates and methods
• Extrapolation Factory: Workshops and tools for speculative design
• IDEO Futures Toolkit: Scenario planning methods adapted for bio-design

Techniques to Practice:

• Future Artifact: Design a product from 2050 and work backward
• News from the Future: Write a newspaper article about your bio-robotics concept
• User Manual: Create instructions for a speculative prosthetic
• Timeline: Map how we get from now to your imagined future

Grow bacterial cellulose that looks and feels like leather. Perfect for wearables, patches, and small accessories.

What You Need:

• Kombucha starter culture (SCOBY) or bottled kombucha
• Black or green tea (4-6 tea bags)
• White sugar (1 cup)
• Water (1 gallon)
• Large glass or ceramic container
• Breathable cloth (cheesecloth or paper towel)

Step-by-Step:

1. Brew Tea: Boil water, steep tea bags for 10 minutes, add sugar, let cool completely
2. Add Starter: Pour cooled tea into container, add SCOBY or 1 cup bottled kombucha
3. Cover: Cover with breathable cloth, secure with rubber band
4. Wait: Leave undisturbed for 2-4 weeks in warm, dark place
5. Harvest: Remove thick cellulose layer that forms on top
6. Dry: Rinse with water, lay flat on parchment paper, air dry for 3-5 days
7. Treat (Optional): Rub with glycerin or coconut oil for softer texture

What You Can Make:

• Bracelets and jewelry
• Phone cases
• Small bags or wallets
• Decorative patches
• Book covers

Pro Tip: Dry your SCOBY flat if you want sheet material, or dry it on a form (like a bowl) for curved shapes.

Make compostable plastic from agar-agar (seaweed extract). Ready to use in hours, not weeks.

Basic Recipe:

• 4 tablespoons agar powder (from Asian grocery or online)
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons glycerin (from pharmacy)
• Natural food coloring (optional)

Instructions:

1. Mix agar powder and water in pot
2. Heat while stirring until boiling
3. Lower heat, add glycerin, stir for 2 minutes
4. Add food coloring if desired
5. Pour into molds or onto flat surface
6. Let cool and set (30-60 minutes)
7. Air dry for 1-3 days depending on thickness

Variations:

• More Glycerin: More flexible, leather-like
• Less Glycerin: More rigid, brittle
• Add Starch: More opaque, matte finish
• Add Vinegar: More translucent, glossy

Use For: Jewelry, decorative objects, material swatches, experimental design, teaching demos.

Grow structural material from mushroom roots. Takes 1-3 weeks, results in strong, biodegradable material.

What You Need:

• Mushroom growing kit (oyster mushrooms work best) or mycelium spawn
• Substrate: sawdust, coffee grounds, or cardboard
• Container or mold (cardboard box, plastic container)
• Spray bottle for misting

Growing Process:

1. Prepare Substrate: Pasteurize sawdust/coffee grounds by boiling or steaming
2. Mix: Combine cooled substrate with mycelium spawn in container
3. Shape: Pack mixture into your desired mold shape
4. Incubate: Keep in dark, warm place (70-75°F), mist daily
5. Watch Grow: White mycelium will spread through substrate over 7-21 days
6. Dry: When fully colonized (all white), dry in oven at 200°F to kill mycelium and harden

What You're Learning:

• Co-Creation: You provide conditions, mycelium does the building
• Living Systems: Material that grows itself
• Neri Oxman's Principles: This is Material Ecology in action

Safety Note: Wear mask when handling dry mycelium powder. Wash hands after handling.

Simplest bioplastic recipe using pantry ingredients. Great for experiments and teaching.

Recipe:

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon glycerin
• 1 drop vinegar
• Food coloring (optional)

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients in small pot
2. Heat on low while stirring constantly
3. Mixture will become thick and gel-like (2-3 minutes)
4. Pour onto parchment paper or into mold
5. Let dry for 1-2 days

Perfect For: Testing different formulations, understanding polymer properties, quick prototypes, classroom demos.

Neri Oxman's current studio focusing on material ecology, bio-design, and nature-technology fusion.

Notable Projects:

• Silk Pavilion II: Co-created with 17,000 silkworms
• Aguahoja: Structures made from water-based biopolymers
• Totems: Computational design meets ancient making

Key Concepts:

Material Ecology - design at intersection of computation, fabrication, materials science, and synthetic biology.

Website: blast.studio | Previous Work: MIT Media Lab Mediated Matter Group

Research laboratory at University of Western Australia dedicated to bio-art. Offers artist residencies.

What They Do:

• Artists work with scientists in wetlab
• Tissue culture art projects
• Hands-on bio-art workshops
• International residency programs

Founders:

Oron Catts & Ionat Zurr - pioneers of tissue culture art, creators of "Semi-Living" artworks.

Notable Project: Victimless Leather - jacket grown from living tissue cells.

Madeline Schwartzman

Body architecture, wearables, human sensorium. Books: "See Yourself Sensing," "Alive."

Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg

Synthetic biology, design, speculation. Book: "Better" - exploring bio-design and nature.

Amy Karle

Bio-digital art, tissue engineering, future of body. Project: "Regenerative Reliquary" - growing bones.

Agi Haines

Speculative body modifications. Project: "Transfigurations" - designed babies and organ modifications.

Stelarc

Performance artist. Projects: Third Hand, Exoskeleton, Ear on Arm. Explores body obsolescence.

Eduardo Kac

Transgenic art pioneer. Project: GFP Bunny (Alba) - glowing rabbit. Bio-art and telepresence.

Faber Futures (Natsai Audrey Chieza)

Bio-design studio using bacteria for color and material. Sustainable fashion innovations.

BioCouture (Suzanne Lee)

Growing fashion from microbes. Pioneering bacterial cellulose clothing.

Officina Corpuscoli (Maurizio Montalti)

Mycelium-based design and research. Growing materials and products from fungi.

Living Architecture (Rachel Armstrong)

Buildings that behave like living systems. Synthetic biology meets architecture.

Design Investigations (Carole Collet)

Bio-textiles and living materials. Plants that grow clothing, speculative bio-futures.

Material Ecology (MoMA, 2020)

Neri Oxman's retrospective. Silkworm collaborations, bio-polymers, computational design. Exhibition catalog available.

Broken Nature (Milan Triennale, 2019)

Curated by Paola Antonelli. Exploring restorative design and bio-materials.

Bio Design (Various Museums)

Traveling exhibition on intersection of design and biology. Check local science museums.

Designs for Different Futures (Multiple Venues)

Speculative design including body modifications and bio-futures.

Ars Electronica Festival (September, Linz, Austria)

World's largest media arts festival. Always features bio-art, hybrid living systems, and speculative bodies.

Dutch Design Week (October, Eindhoven)

Bio-design pavilion showcases latest in living materials, mycelium products, and sustainable design.

ISEA (International Symposium on Electronic Art)

Annual conference rotating locations. Bio-art, wearables, and body-tech presentations.

Transmediale (February, Berlin)

Art and digital culture. Often includes bio-politics, posthuman themes, and critical design.

We Make Money Not Art (WMMNA)

Blog covering bio-art, design, and technology. Best resource for staying current.

BioArt.org

Database of bio-art projects, artists, and exhibitions.

Synthetic Aesthetics

Project exploring synthetic biology through art and design.

Designers & Books

Curated bio-design books and materials section.

Science Gallery Network

International galleries merging science and art. Bio-design frequent theme.

Community labs where you can learn bio-design hands-on. Many offer artist residencies and beginner workshops.

Notable Spaces:

• Genspace (Brooklyn, NY): First community bio-lab in US. Classes, workshops, memberships.
• BioCurious (Bay Area, CA): Open bio-lab with equipment access and community projects.
• London BioHackspace (UK): Community lab in London, workshops and maker space.
• La Paillasse (Paris, France): Bio-hacker space with artist residencies.

What to Expect: Friendly community, beginner-friendly workshops, access to lab equipment, artist-in-residence programs.

IAAC Global Summer School (Barcelona)

Offers bio-design track. Intensive workshops on living materials, computational design, fabrication.

Strelka Institute (Moscow/Online)

Futures studies and design programs. Often covers bio-futures and speculative body design.

Royal College of Art (London)

MA programs in bio-design and wearable futures. Alumni include many bio-design pioneers.

Parsons School of Design (NYC)

Design & Technology MFA. Courses on wearables, bio-materials, and speculative design.

Kobakant DIY Wearable Technology

Online resource with tutorials, recipes, and maker community for wearable tech.

E-textiles Spring Break

Annual gathering for e-textile makers and educators. Workshops and maker sessions.

Fashioning Tech Community

Online community for fashion tech, wearables, and body-worn technology.

Local Meetups

Search Meetup.com for "wearable tech" or "bio-design" in your city.

Srishti Manipal Institute (iGEM): Students combining synthetic biology with art/design (e.g., "Fragrance of Earth").

Akriti Sondhi: Bio-artist working with living systems and speculative futures.

Don't buy expensive "Bio-Kits." Use local grocery sources:

• Agar-Agar (available as "China Grass" in Kirana stores)
• Glycerin (Medical stores)
• Kombucha SCOBY (Local fermenting communities)

Visual template for documenting your sensory experiences and identifying opportunities for augmentation.

What to Map:

• Sensory Hotspots: Where do you sense most intensely?
• Dead Zones: Where could you sense more?
• Movement Patterns: How does your body move through space?
• Touch Points: What objects do you interact with daily?
• Comfort/Discomfort: Where do you feel tension or ease?

Use This For:

Designing wearables, identifying augmentation opportunities, understanding your relationship to your body.

Templates for drawing speculative senses and body modifications.

Exercise Prompts:

• New Sense: Sketch a device that lets you sense something new (magnetism, time, emotions)
• Enhanced Sense: Draw how you'd amplify an existing sense (super hearing, 360° vision)
• Sense Substitution: Design for replacing one sense with another (seeing through sound)
• Body Placement: Where on body would each sense work best?

Inspiration: Look at Neil Harbisson's antenna (hearing colors), echolocation devices, thermal vision goggles.

Structured prompts for designing prosthetics for emotional and cognitive needs, not just physical ones.

Design Challenges:

• Memory Prosthetic: How would you externalize and enhance memory?
• Empathy Prosthetic: Device that helps you feel others' emotions
• Time Prosthetic: Changing how you perceive time passing
• Creativity Prosthetic: Augmenting creative thinking
• Communication Prosthetic: New ways to express thoughts/feelings

For Each Design, Answer:

What problem does it solve? How does it work? What does it look/feel like? Who would use it? What are the unintended consequences?

Scenario cards for discussing ethics of bio-robotics modifications.

Example Scenarios:

• Enhanced Athletes: Should bio-robotic enhancements be allowed in sports?
• Military Augmentation: Ethics of enhanced soldiers
• Cosmetic Modifications: Where's the line between augmentation and vanity?
• Children & Enhancement: Can parents modify their children?
• Access & Inequality: What if enhancements are only for the rich?

Use For: Classroom discussions, design workshops, team ethical review sessions.