Ruth Zhao
ART
RESEARCH
POETRY
LivingLoom
Creating post-anthropocentric plant textiles. What does co-existence with living plants look like?
Summer 2024
Genre
Skills
Interaction Design, Mechanical Engineering, Concept Iteration
Research — Cornell Hybrid Body Lab. To be published in CHI 2025.
Time
Context
LivingLoom is a design inquiry that proposes a post-anthropocentric approach to fabrication by integrating living plants directly into textiles.
These are our guidelines:
Ideation
We examined the intimacy between humans and plants in textile forms, shedding light on the design potential for the care-based fabrication of e-textiles.
FIG 01. Thumbnail Illustrations for Applications
Form
Our design space focused on dimensionality of interaction. We explored modes of form through wet-spinning bio-degradable yarns that sprout & grow.
1D Form
2D Textile
3D Plant Integration
Fabrication
The plant integrated fibers are created by treating a base solution (01) that is sterilized and vacuumed. Seeds are added and the liquid solution is extruded into a coagulation bath. The thread is allowed to dry into weavable fiber.
Learn more about the wet spinning method
Plant Property Tests
FIG 02. Mung bean growth exploration
FIG 03. Chia seed growth exploration
Application
We developed 3 primary methods of integrating the plant seeds into woven craft, shown below.
FIG 04. Pillowcase
FIG 05. Shoe
FIG 06. Rattan Pouch
FIG 07. Substrate Lining
FIG 08. Hybrid Layering
FIG 09. Structure Interlacing
FIG 10. Interaction Diagram
E-Textile Applications
We interwove conductive thread and seed integrated thread to emphasize the human-plant symbiotic relationship through touch.
When the wearer touches the sprouts, they feel haptic feedback from the vibration motor to experience the tactile sense of the plants as an extension of the human body and skin.
FIG 11. Headband
FIG 12. Haptic Feedback Demo
FIG 13. Thread Weaving Reference
User Study
We designed a 3 day user study with 10 participants who wore the apparatus daily and reflected on their experiences.
(One participant tracked the tallest sprout on the wristband and showed strong emotions when it accidentally fell off when bumping into a friend! So cute)
FIG 14. Plant Health Monitoring Device
FIG 15. Monitoring Device Internals
Activity Reports
1
P2 says the plants remind her of her birds, as her birds often sit on her fingertips or shoulders.
2
P3 and P6 mention the similarities to Tamagotchi as a digital companion that needs "virtual" care from them (in this case, physical).
3
P2, P6, and P7 express concern about the health status of living plants during the three days.
4
P5 tracks the tallest sprout among all the ones on her wristband and expressed strong emotions when it fell off when she bumped into a friend.
5
P2 expressed her concern on day 1 when the sprouts began to wilt but was surprised that after one night of rest in sufficient moisture, they visibly grew taller.
"I felt connected when I wake up and then see it’s [growing] really well, and then I feel it’s growing up with me somehow like I’m sleeping while it’s growing."
Publication & Acknowledgements
This research presented here was also accepted for the 2025 CHI ACM Conference.
Research under guidance of:
The Cornell Hybrid Body Lab
Special Thanks to:
Jingwen Zhu, Sam Chang, Professor Cindy Kao