In France, designers Vivien Roussel, Madalina Nicolae, and Marc Teyssier have created a video game controller made from SCOBY, also known as Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast. Dubbed BioHybrid, the controller is a proof of concept that envisions growing devices such as controllers, keyboards, and wearables, as opposed to assembling them.
“By adopting biofabrication techniques, the project offers a glimpse into the future of sustainable, interactive technologies — proposing devices that evolve, adapt, and eventually biodegrade,” according to designboom. “By embedding electrically interactive components during the growth process, this hybrid creation blurs the lines between organic and artificial, living systems and digital manufacturing.”
Roussel, Nicolae, and Teyssier were inspired to create BioHybrid because of the growing issue of e-waste