Soft robotics is a relatively new field of research that explores alternative approaches to designing machines. How might we build machines that operate in a different way and interact with their environment? Could we use flexible, perhaps even sustainable materials instead of consuming ever greater quantities of metal, plastic, and energy?
In the third workshop in the series, participants joined design researchers Anna Schäffner and Eva Bullermann in speculating about how the machines of the future could be designed. Their co-creations used flexible materials such as cellulose, bioplastics, and silicone as their starting points. The speculative Magic Machines created in the workshop filtered out pollution from air and water or helped pack shopping items in semiautomated stores.
