The amount of e-waste generated by discarding devices is enormous but options for recycling remain limited. However, inside a discarded device (from consumer devices to one’s own prototypes), an electronics designer could find dozens to thousands of reusable components, including microcontrollers, sensors, voltage regulators, etc. Despite this, existing electronic design tools assume users will buy all components anew. To tackle this, we propose ecoEDA, an interactive tool that enables electronics designers to explore recycling electronic components during the design process. We accomplish this via (1) creating suggestions to assist users in identifying and designing with recycled components; and (2) maintaining a library of useful data relevant to reuse (e.g., allowing users to find which devices contain which components). Through example use-cases, we demonstrate how our tool can enable various pathways to recycling e-waste. To evaluate it, we conducted a user study where participants used our tool to create an electronic schematic with components from torn-down e-waste devices. We found that participants’ designs made with ecoEDA featured an average of 66% of recycled components. Last, we reflect on challenges and opportunities for building software that promotes e-waste reuse.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3586183.3606745
Living bio-materials are increasingly used in HCI for fabricating objects by growing. However, how to integrate electronics to make these objects interactive still needs to be clarified. This paper presents an exploration of the fabrication design space of Biohybrid Interactive Devices, a class of interactive devices fabricated by merging electronic components and living organisms. From the exploration of this space using bacterial cellulose, we outline a fabrication framework centered on the biomaterials‘ life cycle phases. We introduce a set of novel fabrication techniques for embedding conductive elements, sensors, and output components through biological (e.g. bio-fabrication and bio-assembling) and digital processes. We demonstrate the combinatory aspect of the framework by realizing three tangible, wearable, and shape-changing interfaces. Finally, we discuss the sustainability of our approach, its limitations, and the implications for bio-hybrid systems in HCI.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3586183.3606774
While the majority of pneumatic interfaces are powered and controlled by traditional electric pumps and valves, alternative sustainable energy-harnessing technology has been attracting attention. This paper presents a novel solution to this challenge with the development of the Sustainflatable system, a self-sustaining pneumatic system that can harvest renewable energy sources such as wind, water flow, moisture, and sunlight, convert the energy into compressed air, and store it for later use in a programmable and intelligent way. The system is completely electronic-free, incorporating customized energy harvesting pumps, storage units with variable volume-pressure characteristics, and tailored valves that operate autonomously. Additionally, the paper provides a design tool to guide the development of the system and includes several environmental applications to showcase its capabilities.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3586183.3606721
We propose Skinergy for self-powered on-skin input sensing, a step towards prolonged on-skin device usage. In contrast to prior on-skin gesture interaction sensors, Skinergy's sensor operation does not require external power. Enabled by the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) phenomenon, the machine-embroidered silicone-textile composite sensor converts mechanical energy from the input interaction into electrical energy. Our proof-of-concept untethered sensing system measures the voltages of generated electrical signals which are then processed for a diverse set of sensing tasks: discrete touch detection, multi-contact detection, contact localization, and gesture recognition. Skinergy is fabricated with off-the-shelf materials. The aesthetic and functional designs can be easily customized and digitally fabricated. We characterize Skinergy and conduct a 10-participant user study to (1) evaluate its gesture recognition performance and (2) probe user perceptions and potential applications. Skinergy achieves 92.8% accuracy for an 11-class gesture recognition task. Our findings reveal that human factors (e.g., individual differences in skin properties, and aesthetic preferences) are key considerations in designing self-powered on-skin sensors for human inputs.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3586183.3606729
We contribute a technical solution to reduce print time and material with unmodified fused deposition modelling printers. The approach uses ad hoc objects inserted by a user during printing as a replacement for printed support of overhanging structures. Examples of objects include household items like books, toy bricks, and custom mechanisms like a screw jack. A software-only system is integrated into existing slicing software to analyze generated support print paths, search a library of objects to find suitable replacements, optimize combinations of replacement objects, and make necessary adjustments to impacted printing layers and paths. During printing, the user is prompted to insert objects with the help of lightweight printed holders to guide placement and prevent movement. Instructions printed on the build-plate help identify and position objects. A technical evaluation measures performance and benefits with different sets of ad hoc objects and different levels of user involvement.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3586183.3606718
There has been a growing interest in developing and fabricating wearable sweat sensors in recent years, as sweat contains various analytes that can provide non-invasive indications of various conditions in the body. Although recent HCI research has been looking into wearable sensors for understanding health conditions, textile-based wearable sweat sensors remain underexplored. We present BioWeave, a woven thread-based sweat-sensing on-skin interface. Through weaving single-layer and multi-layer structures, we combine sweat-sensing threads with versatile fiber materials. We identified a design space consisting of colorimetric and electrochemical sensing approaches, targeting biomarkers including pH, glucose, and electrolytes. We explored 2D and 3D weaving structures for underexplored body locations to seamlessly integrate sweat-sensing thread into soft wearable interfaces. We developed five example applications to demonstrate the design capability offered. The BioWeave sensing interface can provide seamless integration into everyday textile-based wearables and offers the unobtrusive analysis of health conditions.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3586183.3606769