Inspiration
In nature, jellyfish do not have brains. They process information via sensitive nerve nets that underlie their epidermis, allowing for full radial sensation. We were inspired by their sensitivity, compositional simplicity, and the many affordances of their radial design.
Like jellyfish, we rely on touch in our natural environments. The skin is the largest organ of the human body, approximately 22 square feet of densely packed receptors. The human hand alone contains approximately 100,000 nerves. Jellyfish is an interface that makes full use of our capacity to sense through touch.
Mechanism
Jellyfish is a proposed dynamic interface that transforms flat, screen-based information into three-dimensional, mutable material, using a programmable topology.
3D Viewer
Place Jellyfish over a GUI, and move it around like a puck. The topology of Jellyfish changes according to the detected screen content, to create correlating textures. The base of the puck is a solid ring, which glides easily on surfaces; the top is a translucent skin, stretched over shape-changing wires, that can bend up to 90 degrees at each node, allowing for the creation of a variety of shapes.
Pressing on a node allows the user to deform the shape, and this input also affects the screen content, allowing for hands-on CAD modeling and other applications.
Applications
Jellyfish can transform any typical GUI interaction into a tangible experience.
Applications include: modeling in CAD software; examining datasets; GIS mapping; game controls, and more. [expand]
Process
Our original brainstorms spanned a variety of possibilities: stress-based tongue interfaces; ants as actuators/fabricators; plant-based interactions and personal growth gardens. We decided to focus on a later idea – a tangible interface puck, loosely inspired by the Microsoft Surface Dial, 
because it would have a wide range of possible applications for productivity and expression.
Unlike the Dial, our puck would be more than an advanced mouse; it would be a direct and tangible connection to the original content. We were inspired by the Radical Atoms discussion and Bret Victor’s talk about the underutilization of many “modes of understanding,” particularly our capacity for tactile understanding. And to achieve this understanding, we would use programmable matter, in the form of changeable topology.
We decided to look to nature for inspiration as to methods of best realizing our vision, and focused on the jellyfish, which has a simple, radial design that affords fluid and rapid shape-changing. A trip to the New England aquarium provided additional inspiration. 
When designing the interface, we focused on usability: the puck would fit in one’s hand, glide easily over any screen, and would be manipulatable by all fingers. Inspired by the jellyfish’s fluid-filled hood and underlying musculature, we decided to use a rigid structure in the bottom layer, with a gel-filled encasement on top. This would allow for more dramatic shape shifts in the rigid structure, including sharp edges, but would also afford smooth, organic surfaces if needed, by altering the amount of gel present in the topology.
There was a delay in getting the shape-changing wires we hoped to use for the rigid structure, so we used 3D-printed models to represent different topologies that could be rendered. 
The tops can be used interchangeably to snap in the puck. We used gel and a plastic film to create a malleable surface atop the underlying structure.
Once the wires arrived, we tested their performance moving a gel layer. We did not achieve the dynamic node structure desired, but did produce movement in the test layer.
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Ants will follow directed UV light, and thus can be guided en masse. In addition to forming a material together, ants are excellent actuators: they are efficient and systematic builders, and disproportionately strong – carrying large objects.
So ants could be used for additive manufacturing, controlled by light, making an ant-driven 3D printer.
Alternatively, they could support subtractive manufacturing, eating patterns in gel in three dimensions (also in reaction to UV light signals).
Finally, ants can carry and convey messages, serving as an unexpected and innocuous messenger, or a collective art display.
Ants making art; and protesting deforestation (World Wide Nature Fund, 2015)
Ants are cool. Has anyone combined additive and subtractive fabrication with insects? As with Poseidon’s idea, what is the role of the user? What is the role of the machine? What is the interaction? Is there a user?
See the original Seek project from arcitecture machine lab (precurser to media lab)
http://www.cyberneticians.com/slideshow/seek2.html
-Dan
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Plants are, of course, living organisms, but they are also an interesting material. Dead, some plants are adequately sturdy to build human infrastructure, like wood frames. Alive, they behave as responsive materials, growing towards and with sunlight; vines even respond to touch, as they must detect forms to wrap around.
A vine is delicate and flexible, yet strong and durable against the elements. They are smooth to the touch and pleasing to the eye, with curves tailored to the environment. The ubiquitous green soothes human cognition; there is some evidence that looking at the green hues of nature is the minimal visual cognitive load.
Most interestingly, they grow – in response to the sun, the land, and anything in the way.
What if they grew in response to us?
Tracking Personal Growth
In recent years, many people have adapted personal tracking devices – from sleep apps, to FitBits. The output tends to be visualized in graphical or numerical form.
Of course, the main feedback in these pursuits should be internal to you – you feel better rested, more fit, happier, etc. Yet there is a continued interest and desire for more than that – a sense of concrete feedback, and of total growth over time, rather than your experience and status in that moment; hence, the popularity of tracking applications.
What if this growth could be presented in a more tangible form than a mobile graph – like a garden?
Concept
The Personal Growth Garden will embody your personal growth in organic, dynamic, and beautiful forms. Plant a seed when you begin a new goal, and watch it sprout when you commence working on it, and then grow vines upwards and outwards in response to your own progress. Flowers may bloom at key junctures in your journey.
Maintain your efforts, or the vine may wither.
Mechanisms
The Personal Growth Garden may begin as a conceptual model, to serve as inspiration for the development of programmable growth materials.
Alternatively, it could co-opt a responsive hydroponics system, that would vary water, nutrient, and light input to plants in reaction to personal progress. Progress could be tracked with traditional methods (user-input on mobile apps; phone pedometers, etc.) and fed to the system, thus promoting plant growth. 
Finally, the system could involve a material that behaves like a plant, rather than actual organic matter. For example, plastic tubing could be densely packed into “seeds,” and then growth could occur via temperature change and inflation, producing vine-like shapes. The shapes would deflate without continued maintenance.
The Experience
You can see, feel, and smell your efforts, as the flowers from your special successes bloom. The patterns of their growth are uniquely yours, intersecting with related goals you pursued concurrently. Others can come and admire the garden you have fostered, giving you the opportunity to share in each others’ progress.
I like the literal metaphor of personal growth. One of the cool aspects of tracking apps is the ability to go back and look in detail at a specific datapoint. What is the corresponding interaction with plants? If the plants grow with you, do you also grow with the plants (give you food, happiness, fresh air, etc.)? Could be a cool positive feedback loop. Of course, if you become depressed and your plants start wilting, will you be even sadder? How to avoid negative feedback loops while maintaining the base metaphor?
I also like the experience – sharing your gruarden/growth. Is there a social aspect? Is your growth synergistic or competative with other people’s/plants? Are there parasites taking energy away from your growth? Pestacides to ward them off? Many potential interactions within the metaphor.
-Dan
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H20TONE
Lily Gabaree, Alethea Campbell, Siya Takalkar, and Poseidon Ho
H20TONE is a remote shared experience and communication device, that pairs water and music in a new, organic language.
One unit would contain the visualization expression container, along with multiple input water bowls. Touching the water in each of the water bowls would make a peculiar sound corresponding to the frequency of the sound wave, which would create the related pattern at the other remotely located units. The speed of the movement would translate into amplitude of the wave.
Process and Mechanisms
H20TONE started as the Fountain of Beats, a community resource and interactive art and atmosphere piece, in which a park fountain is responsive to the collective action of drum circle players. When played, each drum spurs a squirt of water from the basin, forming a fountain, given enough players and beats. Intensity of drumming increases the height of the fountain, and a variety of drums and beats produces varied and unique water displays. The spectacle grows with more participants.
Our group’s initial meetings focused on developing the input, a set of drums that detect drumbeats and translate it into a visualization in Processing. We found that a piezoelectronic 
sensor was the most effective way of detecting drum strikes, as it is highly sensitive to vibrations. Secured the the underside of a drumskin, it can detect individual strikes, and the intensity of the strike. We met with a local drummer, who advised us on the acoustics of hand-drums and the mechanics of playing.
We were hoping to hack a fountain, to program particular water patterns in response to the drum input. Dissembling a small fountain speaker helped us figure out one possible mechanism for building a larger-scale version: a rotating motor compressing a small water trove, pushing it through holes and into the visualization chamber.
Sealing inflatables in the Tangible Media Group
While this work was in progress, we continued evaluating different possible outputs of the circle beyond water, including fire, sand, and air. Udayan gave us a tutorial about using the Pneudino and pumps, and making inflatables. We were considered making an inflatable shape that would be “conjured” by the drum circle, gradually inflating and distorting into unique shapes, depending on the rhythms played. As it turned out, creating adequate air pressure for a large inflatable public piece would require significant pump power. Udayan encouraged us to consider ways of making our interaction circular – having responsiveness on both ends, as opposed to pure visualization.
After our material explorations, we decided to stick with water, as it was pleasant to interact with, and seemed to naturally pair with music, public spaces, and the physical input of hand movement (a drum strike mirroring a water splash). We were particularly fascinated by the effect of wave frequencies on water and other liquids. One of our first experiments was with a mixed purple liquour that contained powdered mica, which formed unique patterns when frequencies were applied beneath.
After our conversation with Udayan, we decided to merge the interaction in one medium – water – as opposed to both drums and water. Water would act as both an instrument and a visualizer; it would be a communication device between individuals and groups.
To achieve this, we needed to make water react to touch. Our prototype system uses alligator clips and a Makey Makey circuit board, which allows the user to complete the circuit and activate a signal by touching the water in a vessel.
For output, we used a metal dish on top of a glass vibrating speaker, which was particularly suited to transmitting frequencies in the water. We staged an example of how this output might be realized on a large scale – as a fountain-sized vessel in a public space or village.
Finally, we found frequencies that were particularly interesting when transmitted through water, and used Processing to program the relationship between touching a vessel of water (input) and the resulting frequency being transmitted into the output vessel, forming distinct patterns.
The system currently works for small scale vessels, but we’ve modeled larger applications.
Fountain of Beats
The Fountain of Beats is a community resource and interactive art and atmosphere piece, drawing on the collective action drum circle players.
A circle of drums surround a quietly bubbling basin. When played, each drum spurs a squirt of water from the basin, forming a fountain, given enough players and beats. Intensity of drumming increases the height of the fountain, and a variety of drums and beats produces varied and unique water displays. The spectacle grows with more participants.
The feeling of striking a drum evokes a similar movement to splashing water, merging water waves, sound waves, and a familiar motion from childhood.
The Fountain of Beats amplifies the group experience of a drum circle, producing another physical manifestation of their collaborative creation. The fountain display will draw others near, some to engage with the creation process, others to enjoy the spectacle – or perhaps to cool off from a hot summer’s day.
Mechanism
When you hit the drum, the resulting pressure stretches the surface and an underlying stretch sensor. This creates an analog input that is processed by a bluetooth Arduino.
Thus, inputs are: frequency of strike; pressure (loudness); which drums are played; and number of drums played at once. Different drums spur different streams of water, and patterns of particular frequencies spur specific water patterns. Increased pressure and more participants leads to a larger and taller stream.
The Beaten Path
In nature, we get cues from the environment as to where our peers have tread before. A worn path may lead to a road, a house, a good view. We leave a residue of our travels, creating affordances for future travelers.
Indoors, we are instead guided by building structures – but this gives us no information about popular spaces within. In some buildings – like museums – the options for routes and destinations may be overwhelming.
What if the floor afforded the best paths for you to take, connecting you with others in the space who have – or had – similar interests?
The Beaten Path is an innovative flooring system that allows slight material depressions, and then remembers those patterns – and reproduces them for future visitors who make an initial move along that space. Path recommendations improve as you walk farther, providing more data points about your interests, which can be compared to similar users to suggest your next step. Find others on your journey – walk together.
Mechanism
The Beaten Path consists of a multi-layer pin-and-actuator adjustable surface, which affords footprint impressions as you walk. The shades of the pins will contrast with the base-level-surface, allowing you to easily perceive even far-away paths, as the base color will be more exposed when the pins are retracted, mimicking the perception of dirt paths within grass fields. You can also feel the path with your feet, as paths will have greater resistance (firm base level) than the “grass” zones, which have pins that give with your weight. Thus, the paths feel more like a traditional floor, whereas venturing off-path gives you the sensation of making your own way, as in a field or a fresh layer of snow.
These impressions will be generalized to pathways for future viewers. As you enter the space, suggested pathways will appear before you, based on the paths chosen by previous walkers who chose to navigate to that point.
Story
Upon entering an art museum, you pick up a map, but find that there is over a million square feet to potentially explore, with thousands of pieces. You approach an interesting piece in the atrium. As you turn around, you notice paths leading from your feet down the hall. You follow one to discover a sculpture from the same era – another popular destination of people who liked the first piece. You are thus connected across space and time with other visitors who were drawn to those pieces; you may encounter new companions along the paths.
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