Most shelving relies on rectangular compartments that ignore the contours of the objects they hold. We present Uniquely Shaped Spaces, an object-driven algorithmic tool for custom shelving generation. The workflow arranges users’ object silhouettes with simulated annealing, grows walls via cellular automata to carve fitted voids, and outputs fabrication files with joinery for laser cutting. We designed the system so that objects, our algorithm, and users share authorship, and studied how this configuration played out with five participants as they designed shelves in guided workshops and then lived with the fabricated pieces. Our findings show how participants navigated object geometry, algorithmic search, and fabrication limits by curating, tweaking, and appropriating algorithmic proposals, and how the resulting shelves supported reflection and storytelling. These results point toward object-driven fabrication systems that foreground objects as generative constraints and explicitly support negotiation within constraint-driven workflows.

This paper explores the dynamics of interdisciplinary collaboration between designers, scientists, and engineers through ten stories as told from the perspective of material-led designers. These stories focus on material-led designers working in contexts like biodesign and smart textiles, where novel materials, fabrication methods, and technology often intersect, requiring cross-disciplinary collaboration. By including perspectives from designers within and adjacent to HCI, the study broadens the understanding of interdisciplinary teamwork that combines scientific, technical, and craft-based expertise. Our analysis highlights how designers navigate challenges like differing terminologies, epistemic hierarchies, and conflicting priorities. We discuss strategies such as material prototypes, attitudes of inquiry and openness, switching lexicons, and the value of interdisciplinary contexts. This research underscores designers as "translators" who mediate epistemological tensions, use tangible artifacts to communicate, and articulate possible applications. This research contributes ten stories as narrative resources for understanding strategies and fostering interdisciplinary spaces within HCI.

Design is storied, and stories are designed. While elements of stories have long been part of the field through methods like personas, scenarios and design fictions, there has been a recent surge of new approaches including fabulations, epics, memoirs, site-writing and design events. In this workshop we aim to understand how stories are built, what narrative traditions they draw from, how they co-constitute research processes and what kind of knowledge can emerge from them. Specifically, we will explore the role of storytelling in HCI, the craft of writing stories, relations between fiction, truth and knowledge and finally the risks, tensions and limitations of writing stories. We will outline an overview of this new wave of stories in HCI and what they are activating and advocating for, build a set of tips, tricks and advice for writing stories and keep track of ongoing issues and open questions for further research.

This paper explores the temporal dimensions of biobased material design through three biodesigned artifacts: myco-electronics, biofoam for tangible interaction, and dissolving wearables. Each case study demonstrates how material temporality, influenced by factors like fabrication techniques and material properties, affects both the design process and user experience. Myco-electronics, grown from mycelium, rely on the timing of harvesting to shape form, and function of the biodesigned artifact. Biofoam, made through traditional methods like molding, offers designers more control over its shape and physical properties such as density. Dissolving wearables emphasize intentional ephemerality, with the material purposefully dissolving to reveal hidden designs, engaging users with impermanence. The concept of temporality is closely tied to sustainability, material tunability, and user interaction. Biobased materials often have shorter lifecycles, but their biodegradable nature enhances sustainability. Designers can tune materials like mycelium and biofoam by manipulating factors such as environmental conditions or fabrication methods, offering design flexibility. Using a research-through-design methodology, the paper emphasizes reflective practice and material-driven design, where both designer and material share agency in the creative process. Key findings show that temporality shapes both the creation and experience of biodesigned artifacts. These materials, whether they grow, transform, or dissolve, allow users to engage with artifacts in ways that reflect natural life cycles. The study concludes that embracing the temporality of biobased materials enriches the user experience and promotes a sustainable, dynamic approach to biodesign.

The ability to create a wide and varied set of interactive textiles depends on the materials that one has available. Currently, the range of yarns that can be used to bring interactivity to textiles is greatly limited, especially considering the diversity available in non-conductive yarns. This pictorial traces a design journey into hand spinning that seeks to address this limitation and contributes samples of techniques and materials that could be used to create conductive yarns along with reflection on design methods that enabled us to explore a wider range of aesthetic expressions. We advocate for an approach that reconnects with the textiles in e-textiles, embraces divergence, and prioritizes the material rather than function as the driver of a design concept. We offer pathways for readers and researchers to continue this exploration within varied domains and practices.

Biomaterials inwearable technology are often explored for their sustainability attributes; this paper broadens that focus to include their functional affordances. We present a casein bioplastic formulation and fabrication technique that preserve its inherent water-triggered shape change. Strips of this biomaterial were integrated into woven swatches to explore how strip width and weave structure influence actuation and textile deformation. We found that the bioactuated textile could be thermally reset, revealing a reversible interaction. We contextualize our findings through envisioned scenarios and discuss how this research can expand interaction modalities in wearable design and interactive textiles.

Regenerative thinking is gaining momentum in HCI, shifting the focus from merely mitigating environmental harm to actively fostering cohabitation within more-than-human ecosystems. This shift challenges HCI researchers to develop new methodologies that engage with both material and cultural regeneration-harnessing the regenerative capacities of ecologies while preserving valuable knowledge systems. It also underscores the need for a fundamental onto-epistemological shift beyond anthropocentric notions of sustainability. To support HCI researchers in adopting regenerative approaches while addressing these challenges, this panel brings together a diverse group of design researchers working hands-on with materials ranging from biological to algorithmic. Through concrete examples and actionable insights, the panelists provide practical guidance on engaging with regenerative material ecologies. By interweaving multiple perspectives through a diffractive approach, the panel also explores the opportunities this emerging perspective offers for HCI, particularly at the intersection of sustainability, posthumanism, and decoloniality.

CHI is becoming home to an emerging community of researchers and practitioners engaging with textiles as a design and research material. This work is spread across a range of areas from digital fabrication to haptics. This workshop offers the opportunity for the broad community of HCI researchers to share techniques and ideas that underpin textile practices at CHI. Knitting, weaving, embroidery, hand-stitching, quilting, garment making, dying, felting, paper making, etc. offer distinct functional and aesthetic qualities while engaging similar modes of working. We propose this workshop to create a meeting place for CHI researchers engaging textiles in any capacity. We suggest a day of skill sharing and collective speculating grounded in the textiles techniques and histories of Japan.

This demo showcases "experimental weaving" as it has been explored by researchers and experimental weavers in residence at the Unstable Design Lab. The demo will feature interactive woven textiles, software to support complex woven structure design, and instructional resources for visitors to explore within their research.

HCI research has demonstrated that textiles have interactive potential, with the ability to transform or self-shape, whether through material, structure, or the addition of non textile elements. Many materials for developing interactive or animated textiles - textiles which change during use - are fossil fuel-based, require electricity for activation, or are only available in small quantities. In this pictorial we present our exploration of high-twist linen yarn as an actuator material in woven textiles. Through experimental design research, we have defined key parameters affecting use of the material, and identified combinations of material and structure producing contrasting textile movement. The resulting woven textiles may be activated by spraying with water, or in high humidity, and the actuation is repeatable after drying, offering multiple modes of interaction. We offer proposals for HCI applications for the animated linen yarn, alongside a guide to facilitate producing and designing animated woven linen textiles.

We present the Loom Pedals, an open-source hardware/software interface for enhancing a weaver’s ability to create on-the-fly, improvised designs in Jacquard weaving. Learning from traditional handweaving and our own weaving experiences, we describe our process of designing, implementing, and using the prototype Loom Pedals system with a TC2 Digital Jacquard loom. The Loom Pedals include a set of modular, reconfigurable foot pedals which can be mapped to parametric Operations that generate and transform digital woven designs. Our novel interface integrates design and loom control, providing a customizable workflow for playful, improvisational Jacquard weaving. We conducted a formative evaluation of the prototype through autobiographical methods and collaboratively developed future Loom Pedals features. We contribute our prototype, design process, and conceptual reflections on weaving as a human-machine dialog between a weaver, the loom, and many other agents.

Smart textiles combine electronics with traditional textile forms, showing great promise in creating soft and flexible interactive systems for human-computer interaction and robotics. However, they also present significant sustainability challenges as they merge two substantial waste streams: textiles and electronics. This paper contributes to sustainability efforts by focusing on the integration of biobased materials that are biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable in the design of smart textiles. We introduce a Desktop Biofibers Spinning Machine to enable smart textile innovators to explore biobased fibers (i.e., biofibers) and envision applications in sustainable smart textiles. We describe the machine’s design, a usage walkthrough, considerations for fiber spinning, and an exploration of various formulations to make gelatin biofibers. We provide several examples of biofibers integrated into smart textile applications. Finally, we discuss lessons learned from working with biofibers and the unique opportunities our machine brings to the fiber design space in HCI.

Research through Design is centered on making things, services and systems as a way to construct knowledge. At the same time, the act of making happens behind-the-scenes, often overlooked, outsourced or rushed through. We would like to propose a one-day workshop of making at DIS. Specifically, we propose the making of samplers as a site for constructing a shared space to contemplate the interplay of memory and imagination in design research, inspired by traditional needlework samplers as well as modern subversive stitchwork [24]. By making together, we aim to take time to consider our personal and collective commitments and stance within and outside our roles as design researchers.

As DIS researchers increasingly describe design as an emergent and material engaged practice, many are embracing different approaches to design documentation that capture the breadth of these practices. This pictorial contributes to these efforts by shedding light on a kind of managerial work that emerged when creating a complex e-textile installation. Specifically, we reflect on our project through the lens of “design bookkeeping” to describe documents that embody managerial knowledge and describe what these documents make intelligible about our practice. We surface findings and cross-cutting themes that bring attention to these practices in relation to broader understandings of project documentation. We then speculate on how the DIS community could circulate this knowledge within, and beyond, academic publication venues.

This paper presents the use of weaving as a technique to create functional augmented reality (AR) markers using different textile structures and colors. We conducted experiments with plain, twill, and satin weaves, as well as varying colors in the warp, to test the effectiveness of the markers. Our findings show that weaving is a viable method for creating AR markers, and the software can detect markers even with varying colors and slightly misaligned quadrants. This work opens up new possibilities for weaving and textile structures in AR design.

The goal of this studio is to facilitate a space in which HCI researchers and designers can explore SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), a sustainable biofilm, grown in kombucha tea, that acts similarly to traditional leathers when harvested and dried. While SCOBY is a popular biomaterial in biodesign and DIYBio practices, we aim to introduce SCOBY as a biomaterial for HCI and ground it in sustainable HCI and slow design theory. Participants will then gain hands-on experience with SCOBY through a material exploration phase (e.i., learning how to embed colors, patterns, and electronics) followed by a structured SCOBY application creation phase. Ultimately, the goal of this studio is to give HCI practitioners who are interested in biodesign a space and time to collaborate, create and discuss the opportunities and challenges of kombucha SCOBY as a biomaterial for HCI.

Glazed ceramic is a versatile material that we use every day. In this paper, we present a new approach that instruments existing glazed ceramic ware with interactive electronic circuits. We informed this work by collaborating with a ceramics designer and connected his craft practice to our experience in physical computing. From this partnership, we developed a systematic approach that begins with the subtractive fabrication of traces on glazed ceramic surfaces via the resist-blasting technique, followed by applying conductive ink into the inlaid traces. We capture and detail this approach through an annotated flowchart for others to refer to, as well as externalize the material insights we uncovered through ceramic and circuit swatches. We then demonstrate a range of interactive home applications built with this approach. Finally, we reflect on the process we took and discuss the importance of collaborating with craftspeople for material-driven research within HCI.

Bio-based materials facilitate the development of more sustainable devices and wearables, expanding the range of design possibilities beyond conventional materials. Our work with biofoam explores one such quality, dissolving, as a unique affordance for designing and interacting with wearables. We developed techniques to make biofoam yarns, and used them to craft three wearables: “Seasonal Footwear", a “Reveal Bralette", and an “Unfolding Lace Top". These wearables incorporate sections that dissolve in water, allowing customization to suit the user’s needs. These wearables illustrate short-term use cases, such as a one-time reveal or shape change. We explore this novel design space as sustainable ephemeral fashion, where bio-based dissolving materials enable revealing, transformative, and interactive functionalities.

Woven textiles are increasingly a medium through which HCI is inventing new technologies. Key challenges in integrating woven textiles in HCI include the high level of textile knowledge required to make effective use of the new possibilities they afford and the need for tools that bridge the concerns of textile designers and concerns of HCI researchers. This paper presents AdaCAD, a parametric design tool for designing woven textile structures. Through our design and evaluation of AdaCAD we found that parametric design helps weavers notate and explain the logics behind the complex structures they generate. We discuss these finding in relation to prior work in integrating craft and/or weaving in HCI, histories of woven notation, and boundary object theory to illuminate further possibilities for collaboration between craftspeople and HCI practitioners.