Introduction
In this latest article, we gather the key reflections that emerged on the relationship between nature, technology, and interaction design.
A Personal Paradox as a Starting Point
This research was born from a personal paradox.
I’ve always loved being immersed in nature, but in everyday life, I’ve often found it difficult to care for plants. Lack of time, space, and continuity. From here, a question arose: what if technology could help us reconnect with nature, instead of distancing us from it?
The Indoor Generation and the Loss of Natural Rhythms
As the indoor generation, we spend approximately 90% of our time indoors: homes, offices, schools, and transportation. Although we often don’t realize it, our lives unfold almost entirely indoors.
Yet, humans have a profound connection with the natural world. For much of our evolution, we lived outdoors, following the rhythms of light, seasons, and ecosystems. This connection has been progressively neglected in recent centuries.
The concept of biophilia reminds us of this: we have a natural need to connect with life and vital processes, not just to live in efficient and comfortable environments.
Why It Matters for Interaction Design
Home automation systems today are highly advanced. They manage light, temperature, security, and energy efficiently. But they focus almost exclusively on physical comfort.
These technologies don’t take into account deeper needs: emotions, perception, and a connection with time and nature. Smart homes know when to turn on a light, but they don’t know how we feel. They don’t help us build a connection with living things.
This gap isn’t technical, it’s human. And this is precisely where interaction design can make a difference.
Methods
The research followed a qualitative and exploratory approach.
The goal is not to measure performance, but to understand experiences, perceptions, and behaviors.
The analysis focused on three key aspects:
- engagement
- feedback
- emotional connection
Results
Three main directions emerge from the research.
- The first concerns emotional connection. Interdisciplinary approaches, such as the use of sound, can make plants’ vital parameters visible. Transforming biological data into sounds or musical outputs allows for a more sensitive and empathetic relationship.
- The second concerns engagement. Mechanics inspired by video games and gamification can make plant care more engaging, encouraging continuity and attention over time.
- The third concerns nature-based user interfaces. Tools like Makey Makey show how natural elements can become an active part of the interaction. But above all, how it is possible to integrate biological inputs in a sensorial way.
Conclusion: From Efficiency to Well-Being
What if technology could bring nature back into our daily lives?
This was the central question of the entire project. The current market certainly already offers several solutions capable of integrating some of the principles discussed, such as gamification.
The next step could be to make these technologies more accessible and even more interdisciplinary. Integrating different media, such as sound, is also important because many home automation systems today are primarily voice-based and therefore inaccessible to those who cannot use their voice.
But perhaps the most important question is not what technology can do for nature, but rather to continue asking what nature can teach us about how to design better interactions.
