Platinum Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design · 2021
Venous Materials Interactive Fluidic Interfaces
by Hila Mor
- A' Design Award 2021 Platinum Winner in Interface, Interaction and User Experience Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Tangible Media Group, MIT Media Lab
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 230,926
- Verification code 38F8E8A0B1 · Verify this award
About Venous Materials Interactive Fluidic Interfaces
Venous Materials is an interactive fluidic interface that responds to touch and movement. The design is inspired by vein systems found in plants, leaves and the human body. Pressure or deformation applied by the user drives liquid through internal channels, producing changing patterns and colors. Each sample works at the same time as a sensor and as a display of tangible information. The prototypes are made of PDMS silicone and ecoline ink, using laser engraving and manual laboratory processes. Most measure 5 by 5 centimeters, and some reach 15 by 15 centimeters.
Hila Mor's Venous Materials Interactive Fluidic Interfaces represents a significant contribution to the evolving field of tangible interaction design, where physical materials become dynamic communicative surfaces through embedded fluidic systems. This work, recognized with the Platinum distinction in the A' Design Award Interface category, embodies the intersection of material science, computational design, and human-centered interaction principles that characterizes contemporary experimental interface development. The designer appears to have drawn inspiration from biological circulatory systems and mathematical space-filling curves to create a channel network that maximizes surface coverage while maintaining continuous fluid pathways. The Hilbert curve geometry, evident in the systematic right-angle turns and self-similar patterning, demonstrates sophisticated algorithmic design thinking applied to physical fabrication constraints. The material transparency serves both functional and aesthetic purposes, allowing users to observe fluid movement through the channels while creating a visual language of delicacy and precision. The singular orange reservoir suggests a point of input or activation, inviting contemplation of how fluid introduction might animate the otherwise static network with color, movement, and responsive behavior. The intimate scale, comfortable within a human grip, emphasizes the personal and tactile nature of this interface paradigm, departing from screen-based interactions toward embodied material experiences. Viewers are invited to consider how such fluidic interfaces might transform our relationships with interactive systems, bringing warmth, organic movement, and physical presence to computational interactions.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The Venous Materials project envisions a new way to design dynamic tangible interactions using fluidic structures. It is a new type of dynamic interactive material that is inspired by veins systems in nature: in plants, leaves, and throughout the human body. These Materials respond to user's pressure and motion with dynamic displayed patterns. Venous Materials can animate dynamic graphics, create responsive objects, and to visualize body movement and balance.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The different Venous Materials prototypes are mainly 5cmX5cm, while some of them can get up to 15cmX15cm.
- Tags
- Interaction Design, Material research, Dynamic Graphics, Microfluidics, Computational Aided Design, Sensors and Displays, Venous Structures
- Production Technology
- Venous Materials technology developed through research on current Microfluidics,that is specifically designed for human interaction and UX design. A specilized computational tool was developed for the design process and to simulate and visualize of the color change and display of the flow within the material, according to the user input. Production process involves laser engraving and manual lab processes. Materials used are PDMS silicone and ecoline ink.
- Design Challenge
- While current computer chips and electronics usually require rigid and bulky components that challenges the integration with varied objects or fabrics, Venous Materials is soft and self-contained mechanism that utilizes the motion of daily activities as its energy source. Design of micro-fluid dynamics is not intuitive task, our approach and computational tool allows the design, simulation, and prototyping of fluidic interactive sensors that can be embedded in, or attached to, any object.
- Project Duration
- The project started June 2019 and finished April 2020 in Cambridge, MA, at the MIT Media Lab, Tangible Media group
- Operation Flow
- The displayed flow pattern and color change of the fluidic channels within Venous Materials inform the users of the motion and physical force that is applied on the material. The users can interact with Venous Materials by deforming or applying pressure on the material, which drives the fluid flow within the internal channels to visualize the dynamic responsive display. Therefore, Venous Materials simultaneously functions as a sensor and display of tangible information.
- Research
- This work present design and fabrication methods for interactive fluidic mechanisms that respond to deformation by mechanical inputs from the user. The Venous design tool provides designers with a simple way to create and validate designs of fluidic structures. It allows users to design the geometry, and simulate the flow with intended mechanical force dynamically. This leads to Interactive applications of Venous Materials, to augment human movement and everyday objects.
- Inspiration
- This project is inspired by venous structures that are ubiquitous throughout nature and in the human body. By changing colors, veins can inform us of internal and external physical conditions. For example, veins in leaves transmit pigments that drive color change, which informs us of the internal condition of the leaf and which season it is. When we press firmly on a button, the tip of our finger changes its color, this subtle color change can be used to indicate the applied pressure.
- Image Credits
- All Photo/video credit to Tangible Media Group, MIT Media Lab
- Patents
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Tangible Media Group / MIT Media Lab