SoilSense: Appropriating Soil-based Microbial Fuel Cells to Create Tangible Interfaces
summary
SoilSense repurposes SMFC cells so pressing the cathode raises voltage instead of just harvesting energy, with clear voltage jumps on handheld demos and repeatable peaks up to ~300 N tests; larger cathodes give higher peaks but slower recovery, and wetter soil yields stronger, faster responses. The team characterizes force vs voltage across electrode sizes, application speed, and volumetric water content, and builds tangible prototypes using TPU containers and multi-cathode arrays that detect presses, rotations, bends, hand distribution, and object weight.
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chapters (6)
- 0:00Introduction to SoilSense
- 1:50Soil-based microbial fuel cells
- 2:54Force-voltage relationship validation
- 4:20Tangible interface prototypes
- 6:28Implications and limitations
- 8:57Q&A session
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