Researchers at the University of Chicago say they have created a watch powered by slime mold, which has to be fed and cared for to work. The Tamagotchi-like device is intended to help address the rising levels of electronic waste by changing the fickle relationship that consumers have with their electronic devices – i.e., being quick to toss out or replace their device without a second thought – by bringing devices to life \u2013 literally.<\/p>\n
Using the electrically conductive single-cell organism known as \u201cslime mold,\u201d the researchers created a watch that only works when the organism is healthy, requiring the user to provide it with food and care. The researchers then tested how this living device affected its wearer\u2019s attitude toward technology, changing the usual one-way service into a mutually beneficial partnership.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople were forced to think about their relationship to devices in a lot of really interesting ways,\u201d says Jasmine Lu, a fourth-year graduate student in Asst. Prof. Pedro Lopes\u2019 Human-Computer Integration Lab. \u201cWhen discussing their experiences with normal smartwatches, Fitbits, or other wearable devices, people said they just used it for an explicit purpose. And with this device, it felt more like a bi-directional relationship because they had to care for it. They also had some sort of attachment to it because it\u2019s living, and they felt like they couldn\u2019t throw it away, or just put it in the closet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The watches were designed and built to tell time and measure the wearer\u2019s heart rate. However, the second function is dependent upon the health and unique characteristics of Physarum polycephalum, a species of slime mold sometimes called \u201cthe blob,\u201d for its rapid growth, resilience and curious maze-solving abilities.<\/p>\n
The organism is placed in an enclosure on the watch, and the user must regularly feed it a mixture of water and oats to induce its growth. When the slime mold reaches the other side of the enclosure, it forms an electrical circuit that activates the heart rate monitor function. The organism can also enter a dormant state when not fed, allowing for revival days, months, or even years later.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of human-computer interaction research is motivated by making things easier to use and faster to use,\u201d says Lopes. \u201cBut Jasmine thought there should be more friction; you should have to care for it and feed it every day, for the sake of just having to reflect on it. So, it\u2019s like half art piece and half research paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once the watches were built, the researchers conducted a study with five participants who wore the watch for two weeks. Over the first week, the users cared for the slime mold until the heart rate monitoring was enabled. Then for the second week, the researchers asked participants to stop feeding the organism, causing it to dry out and disrupt the heart rate function. Throughout the study, participants wrote in journals about their feelings about the device and answered interview questions.<\/p>\n
The researchers found a high level of attachment to the watch, with some users saying it felt like a pet \u2013 even naming it, or putting their partner in charge of the feeding when they got sick. Subjects reportedly said that the connection was more meaningful than with virtual pets such as Tamagotchis or The Sims, which can be casually reset after death. Even more surprising, say the researchers, was the emotional response when study participants were told to neglect the organism, expressing guilt or even grief.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople were shocked; almost all of them were like, \u2018Really? I have to do that?\u2019\u201d says Lopes. \u201cThere were very human responses. Some people were sad, some people really felt like the connection was broken.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, the researchers say they hope that their research won\u2019t just inspire creative new devices that run on slime mold power, but also provoke designers to create technologies that inspire attachment and mutual benefit, to make devices feel less like disposable tools and more like partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith our devices, we can engage in a lot of different forms of care, like cleaning and taking care of them, or repairing them when they\u2019re broken,\u201d says Lu. \u201cBut a lot of the ways that consumer devices are designed now, those aspects of care are less focused on or are made inaccessible; they are made so that you trash them, instead of engaging with them more. So I definitely think there is a design takeaway of focusing on this aspect of caring for devices instead of just consuming them.\u201d<\/p>\n