What is it about?
Interactive devices are part of our everyday lives, but many are made from materials that are difficult to reuse, recycle, or safely return to the environment. Could materials from biological sources offer a more sustainable way to make these technologies? This review explores how biomaterials can be used to create interactive devices that sense, respond, or change over time. We bring together research on different biomaterials, how they are processed and fabricated, the interactive functions they can support, and the contexts in which they are used. We also examine the challenges that need more attention, including reliable performance, reproducible fabrication methods, and what happens to these devices at the end of their life. Our goal is to help researchers and designers make better-informed choices when developing interactive technologies with biomaterials and to encourage sustainability claims to be supported by evidence.
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Why is it important?
As interest in more sustainable interactive technologies grows, biomaterials are emerging as promising alternatives to conventional materials. However, choosing a biological material does not automatically make a device sustainable. Its performance, fabrication process, maintenance, lifespan, and end-of-life conditions all matter. This review is important because it brings together research that has often been considered in separate areas. By connecting material choices with fabrication methods, interactive functions, and lifecycle considerations, it provides a broader understanding of both the opportunities and limitations of biomaterials in HCI. Beyond mapping the field, the review identifies practical challenges and research gaps, particularly around reproducible fabrication, reliable device performance, and evidence-based evaluation of biodegradability and end-of-life outcomes. It offers researchers and designers a foundation for developing interactive devices that are not only functional but also more thoughtfully designed for their entire lifecycle.
Perspectives
What I find particularly exciting about this area is the opportunity to rethink the relationship between materials, technology, and interaction. I believe materials should not simply serve as passive substrates for electronic components; their intrinsic properties, responses to the environment, and transformations over time can become essential parts of an interactive system. For me, working with biomaterials also raises a broader question: how can we design technologies not only around what they do during use, but also around where their materials come from, how they are maintained, and what happens when they are no longer needed? I see this as an important opportunity for HCI to move beyond designing functional devices toward designing more responsible material and technological lifecycles. I hope this review encourages researchers and designers to explore biomaterials not just as substitutes for conventional materials, but as a way to imagine fundamentally different forms of interactive technology, ones that are responsive to their material origins, environmental conditions, and eventual end of life.
Narges Pourjafarian
Northeastern University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Towards Sustainable Interactive Devices: A Literature Review of Biomaterials in HCI Fabrication, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, November 2026, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3861339.
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