ARC — Algal Relay Computer
2023
[design research] [critical design] [engineering]
Description
Modern society is filled with fast-paced digital technologies. Our emphasis on efficiency has limited us to seeing time as a resource to be managed and optimised, and the technologies have been built on such a view. Researchers claim that this narrow perspective of time has made us blind to broader interpretations of time and has separated us from nature. The project challenges such a dominant narrative on time.
ARC — Algal Relay Computer is a simple form of computer that incorporates the growth of microalgae (Spirulina platensis) in its calculation process. A simple calculation takes a long time because the circuit needs to wait for the algae culture to grow to a certain density. The contrast of the instant technology symbolised by the computer and the slowness reflecting the temporality of microalgae serves as a design provocation to spark discussions about how we can interpret nonhuman temporalities and how designers can incorporate them into design practices.
*Design research project at Industrial Design master’s program at Eindhoven University of Technology (Supervisor: Bahareh Barati)
Press
Article on WeVux by Teo Sandigliano
Exhibition
Dutch Design Week 2023 (TU Eindhoven Drivers of Change)
Publication
Yuta Ikeya and Bahareh Barati. 2023. Designing an Algal Relay Computer: A Critical Orientation in Exploring More-than-Human Temporality. In Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’23), Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–6. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3585874