Category Archives: Week 2

Portable Bacterial Testing kit


Test for bacteria amounts and types in manhattan subway stations.  This would be accomplished with an all in one bacterial testing kit.   It would be similar to a backpack, but have an incubator built in.  Also there is a compartment to keep swabs, petri dishes, test tubes, and the various chemical solutions used to detect certain types of bacteria





Micro Q portable incubator:

Home science tools bacteria experimentation kit:

Screen Shot 2014-09-11 at 6.57.20 PM


Rapid Pool Bacteria test kit: made for pools but can be applied to anything


Screen Shot 2014-09-11 at 6.58.11 PM


Future Steps: Would then create a visualization of the test results pertaining to each subway station.  For future fun i would also then like to experiment with training the bacteria to react to various stimuli.

For the training i was inspired by this video of bacteria building a pyramid:

DIY decellularization mobile lab

photo 3-4


Mobile decellularization lab

My goal with this lab is to create a mobile lab to repurpose wasted and unused plant and animal tissues to create pieces of decellularized tissue scaffolds. These can then be experimented with for artistic purposes. I am interested in the interaction between the body, technology and biology.  Through decellularizing tissues,  I’d like to understand what the body does with those tissues and how they interact. How could we wear these scaffolds in the future, essentially creating something from trash?  What would a device look like that we wear to decellularize tissues as we move?

This is a quick prototype of the decellularization setup. The containers that will hold the tissue being decellularized has a pump attached to allow fresh detergent solution to be pumped in.

The lab will include multiple glass or polypropylene containers to hold the detergent solution, water, and other liquids to remove the cellular contents from the tissues, tools to handle the materials, and various devices to apply the detergents with and to affect the process- possibly a diy agitator.

The process involves washing the tissue, and soaking it in a lab detergent solution (sodium dodecyl sulfate-SDS). Over time the detergent removes the cellular contents from the tissue leaving only the extra cellular matrix (ECM) remaining. The ECM is a scaffold of either collagen (from animal tissue) or cellulose (from plant tissue). This scaffold can then be used as a scaffold to grow living cells. (i won’t be reseeding the tissues)

Some inspiration:

The Pelling Lab has done extensive work with tissue decellularization-

A scientific paper with a description of the protocol-!po=29.6875


a bioreactor setup at Pelling lab


a piece of decellularized steak

Mobile Lab Prototype


My idea is a device that can be used to detect what type of sickness a person has, whether it be heart burn, migraine, stomach bug, any types of cancer, etc. The device is a small screen with a wire connected to a breathalyzer. The screen is touch-based. The user would scan their finger on the screen after checking they are male/female first. After scanning the finger, the device will pull up their medical history, and tell the user what they have.


Inspirations for this idea:

The breathalyzer. This gave me an idea that maybe instead of checking to see if someone is drinking, we can see what kind of sickness the person might have after experiencing some symptoms.

The iPhone is another inspiration. Phones are starting to be able to be used for healthy reasons, such as read heart rate, blood pressure, etc.

Mobile Lab Mockup

Here is a visual mockup of my mobile lab. My goal was to create a wearable mobile lab for exploring new lands through taking measurements and samples, and capturing documentation.


The text is hard to read from the images, so here is a rundown of the features as relates to the numbering in the diagrams:

  1. Positionable ear augmentation that are controlled using an EEG device under the hood. A microphone is also included on each side to record audio.
  2. An eye display similar to Google Glass. Also capable of recording audio/visual and taking voice notes. It can be controlled by voice or a touch pad located on one of the gloves.
  3. Interchangeable magnifying lenses (like a jeweler’s lens) for close up visual analysis.
  4. EEG located under the hood to monitor the wearer and control the direction of the ears.
  5. A measuring tape on the sleeve allows for quick estimations of size.
  6. A vibration sensor in the shoe detects nearby motion.
  7. A GPS tracker in the other shoe monitors the wearers position and automatically attaches this information to any images or voice notes.
  8. A scale in the shoe is zeroed to the wearer’s weight so that she can weight small objects by picking them up.
  9. A temperature sensor in the pointer finger of the left glove can be used to measure air and water temperatures.
  10. A humidity sensor in the index finger of the left glove takes humidity readings.
  11. A head-mounted flashlight makes for easy hands-free operation in the dark. It has regular white light and red light to protect the wearer’s night vision.
  12. A hand-mounted camera, also on the left hand can take images around corners,  up high, and in other places the eye display has trouble reaching.
  13. A processor and battery back operate all the electronics and store data for later analysis.
  14. Containers for samples are located on the outer portion of the boot.
  15. Small instruments such as tweezers and an eyedropper are stored in special holders on the breast of the jacket.
  16. A spotting scope is attached to a holder on the leg for viewing at longer distances. It is good for observing local fauna.
  17. A bite-activated drinking straw in the hood allows for hands-free drinking. A pouch of water is stored in the lining of the back of the jacket.
  18. A touch pad on the left glove can control the functions of the eye-display when the wearer cannot use her voice.
  19. A large cargo pocket on the right leg is used for storage
  20. A pocket knife (always an essential tool for exploring) is clipped to a jacket pocket.
  21. A robotic canary drone can perform visual reconnaissance. The video feeds back to the eye display for exploring hard to access areas remotely. It is controlled with the touch pad or by voice.


A spacesuit is basically a mobile lab/work suit for an extreme environment.

I am particularly interested in biology, so I looked to early naturalists like James Audubon and Charles Darwin for ideas of what to include in the lab. I did not include a gun, though. I prefer less damaging means of observation.

A company called Necomimi makes EEG controlled ears for cosplay. Why not make them actual ear augmentations?