Molecular design interactions : material synthesis for human interaction with fluids

Abstract

[Color illustrations] Figure 0-1. Key elements within a Molecular Design Interactions interaction loop. Be it information embodied within rain, the oceans, a dinner plate, or human tears; the flow of information through fluids provides insights into the biological and chemical states of systems. Yet a large portion of our everyday experience with these systems remain inaccessible to users, designers and engineers whom operate outside the context of chemical disciplines. This thesis introduces a design framework coined Molecular Design Interactions, along with a toolbox of material based input-output devices termed Organic Primitives to facilitate the design of interactions with organic, fluid-based systems. The design methodology utilizes organic compounds from food for the development of color, odor and shape changing information displays. Activated by units of fluid information called droplets, this thesis focuses on pH signals in fluid as a model to demonstrate how molecular scale phenomena can be brought from materials into applications for interaction with a range of organic systems. A design language and vocabulary, drawing from signaling theory and molecular associations, offer designers a method with which to translate sensor-display output into meaningful experience designs for human perception. The design space showcases techniques for how the Organic Primitives can transcend beyond mere input-output devices to achieve higher order complexity. Passive and computational methods are presented to enable designers to control material interface output behaviors. An evaluation of the individual output properties of the sensors-actuators is presented to assess the rate, range, and reversibility of the changes as a function of pH 2-10. Strategies for how the materiality of objects can be augmented using Organic Primitives are investigated through several applications under four contexts: environmental, on-body, food, and interspecies. Molecular Design Interactions offers a process and toolbox to create interfaces between humans and molecules in fluids, across scales, from the nano to the macro systems.