The Thing With E.coli: Highlighting Opportunities and Challenges of Integrating Bacteria in IoT and HCI
This work addresses the problem of enabling IoT and HCI researchers to experiment with bacteria, but it is incremental as it primarily reviews and proposes ideas without presenting new experimental results.
The paper tackles the challenge of integrating bacteria into IoT and HCI by highlighting their potential as autonomous agents in IoBNT, and proposes using DIY biology and gamification to address the lack of accessible infrastructure for researchers.
With advances in nano- and biotechnology, bacteria are receiving increasing attention in scientific research as a potential substrate for Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT), which involve networking and communication through nanoscale and biological entities. Harnessing the special features of bacteria, including an ability to become autonomous - helped by an embedded, natural propeller motor - the microbes show promising array of application in healthcare and environmental health. In this paper, we briefly outline significant features of bacteria that allow analogies between them and traditional computerized IoT device to be made. We argue that such comparisons are critical in terms of helping researchers to explore human-bacteria interaction in the context of IoT and HCI. Furthermore, we highlight the current lack of tangible infrastructure for researchers in IoT and HCI to access and experiment with bacteria. As a potential solution, we propose to utilize the DIY biology movement and gamification techniques to leverage user engagement and introduction to bacteria.