The interactive session aimed to deeply understand the public’s sensory responses to koji and observe their direct interaction with our KojiGotchi prototype. Participants were invited to engage with koji samples, which included smelling, touching, and, optionally, tasting. They were also asked questions about their experiences and perceptions.

A key component of this session was the “Sensory Perception Study,” which broke down interaction into graduated steps. Participants first engaged in blind aroma identification to gauge their instinctual reactions to koji’s smell. This was followed by tactile interaction to explore texture perceptions. They then moved to full sensory engagement, integrating sight, smell, and touch , with an optional taste activity. Finally, after a brief explanation of koji, specific inquiries were made about their prior knowledge and consumption of koji products.

At the end of the study, participants were invited to set up the KojiGotchi device themselves. They were provided with grains of their preference (steamed rice, barley, etc.) and a prop for “koji spores” (rice flour), and asked to choose where on their body to wear it.

Several interesting insights emerged from these interactions:

• While participants varied in their familiarity with fermentation, most were not very knowledgeable.
• Most participants expressed excitement about the promise of futuristic biodesign inventions, such as shape-morphing, self-healing jackets, or buildings and garments made from microbe-derived products. However, they were mostly wary of potential contamination and allergy-related issues concerning living materials in such applications.
• Participants generally described koji’s smell as sweet, citrusy, or earthy.
• The texture of koji rice was largely perceived as quite pleasant, often compared to dough.
• The taste of koji rice was mostly found unpleasant, primarily due to its texture.
• A significant reluctance emerged among participants to interact with koji rice again—even just touching it—after learning it was essentially “moldy rice.”
• Participants generally preferred cultivating white koji, finding black and green varieties too “dangerous” in appearance.
• When choosing where to wear the KojiGotchi, participants mostly preferred their upper or lower abdomen.
• There was a wide variation in how participants approached setting up the device, with some adding significantly more “spores” (rice flour) to the grains than others.
• Not a single participant considered or attempted to work in a sterile manner while setting up the device.

The online survey aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the public’s perception of fermentation and microbially-powered technologies. It revealed several key insights into people’s comfort, curiosity, knowledge, and concerns.

Main Conclusions from the Online Survey:

• High Conceptual Comfort, but Practical Hesitation: A significant majority of respondents (84.78%) expressed either curiosity or complete comfort with the idea of contributing their body heat, breath, or sweat to power microbial growth. This aligns with a general high comfort level with microbes already present on or in the body (over 80% indicating comfort levels of 4 or 5 on a 1-5 scale). Similarly, most (over 95%) were comfortable using products containing living microorganisms. However, when considering consuming food fermented by such a device, while 39.13% would trust the process, a substantial portion indicated they would need more information or assurance of cleanliness and safety. This suggests a gap between conceptual acceptance and practical, direct engagement.
• Awareness and Future Expectations: Over 70% of respondents had heard of technologies or materials using microorganisms, indicating a baseline awareness of the field. On average, participants rated the likelihood of microorganism-based devices becoming mainstream in the next decade at 6.52 out of 10, demonstrating a moderately high expectation for their future integration. Furthermore, a strong majority (around 70%) agreed or strongly agreed that microbes are essential for the future of sustainable design, highlighting positive sentiment towards their environmental potential.
• Primary Concerns: The leading concerns about technologies involving live microbes in direct body contact centered on the “Risk of infection or contamination” and “Hygiene and cleanliness,” which were the most frequently cited anxieties.

These findings from the online survey, coupled with insights from the interactive session, reinforce our belief that there is a discrepancy between the public’s inherent curiosity and their current knowledge or comfort with microbiology. It underscores the critical need to bridge this gap, supporting our vision for the KojiGotchi to contribute to accessible microbiology and fermentation education, particularly in settings like primary schools.