Skip to main content

Signal your interest! Help us decide to produce the KojiGotchi device. Learn More

Philosophy
Philosophy
Bio-Futures
What is it?
Glossary
Vocab of the future
KojiGotchi
Why now?
The Vision of Bio-Future

A Radical Rethink of Reality

Biodesign isn’t just about new materials; it’s a huge shift in how we see our place in the world. We’re moving past the old idea that humans control nature. Instead, we’re looking to life itself as a guide for design. Imagine objects that aren’t just tools, but active partners that can sense, respond, and even design themselves. This is the more-than-human future, where synthetic biology shows us that livingness is a key quality in materials, making us think about how life and technology are deeply connected.

More Science

Microbes: From Threat to Partner

Today, microorganisms are mostly seen as threats, something to be cleaned away, fought, or feared. Yet, the bio-future envisions a profound shift, where these same microbes become essential partners in our homes, bodies, and technologies. This gap in perception creates a major barrier to truly embracing a living world.

Beyond Consumption: The Ethics of Care

Our current world thrives on consumption, viewing objects as disposable resources. In contrast, bio-future visions demand an ethic of care, where we nurture and maintain living materials and systems. This shift from simple consumption to active caretaking requires a fundamental change in our relationship with the things we create and interact with.

Bridging the Abstract to the Tangible

Grand ideas of holobionts and designing-with living systems inspire, but they often remain abstract concepts in academic papers. Most people lack concrete ways to experience or even imagine such deep connections with microorganisms. This disconnect prevents widespread understanding and acceptance, leaving transformative bio-futures just out of reach.

Glossary

  • Post-Human

    This concept questions the traditional idea of humans as separate and superior to nature and technology. It suggests a future where our identity is intertwined with non-human life and advanced systems, leading to new ways of being.

  • More-than-Human-Centred Design

    This design idea includes non-human parts like animals, plants, microbes, and smart tech. It’s about designing with everyone and everything, not just humans.

  • Holobiont

    A living unit made of a host (like you) and all its tiny microbes. It shows we’re not just individuals, but complex, linked ecosystems.

  • Designing-with

    This way of designing means working with humans and non-humans, not just for them. It sees us all as connected by materials, ethics, and our very existence.

  • Care:

    More than just looking after something, ‘care’ here means a mindful way of acting and relating to devices and living things. It’s about truly listening, noticing, and building connections where everyone relies on each other.

  • Surfaced Livingness

    This is how a living system shows its life in clear ways, like its growth, smell, changes, and actions. It makes the living thing immediately clear and interesting.

  • Autopoiesis

    This term describes a system, like a living cell, that can produce and maintain itself by creating its own components. It highlights life’s unique ability to self-organize and stay alive.

Our Vision

From grand ideas to real life.

Making the Abstract Real

This project emerged from a personal frustration: the difficulty of truly sharing the bio-future’s profound concepts with our own families and friends. The complex narratives surrounding biodesign often create an elitist barrier, preventing wider audiences from engaging with its transformative potential. Our team formed specifically to address this disconnect. We aim to bridge the gap between abstract bio-design principles and tangible, everyday experiences, inviting everyone to understand and participate in this living future.

More on Product Design
A familiar toy, a new purpose

Tamagotchi Blueprint

We drew inspiration from the cultural phenomenon of the Tamagotchi. This device once introduced us to portable, attention-demanding digital technology, unknowingly preparing us for today’s mobile world. By analogy, we envisioned a similar, engaging device for the bio-futures that so many biodesign projects propose. The KojiGotchi is that living interface, designed to help you interact with microbes. Through an experience built on care, it teaches a mindful, hands-on approach to science, demonstrating mutual interdependence between humans and microorganisms. This isn’t about simple consumption; it’s about shifting from control to co-production with life itself, inviting you into a truly shared, living future.

Discover KojiMoji