Prototyping Ubiquitous Biosensing Applications Through Speculative Design Marc Böhlen / University at Buffalo Department of Media Study Buffalo, USA marcbohlen@acm.org Ilya Maharika / Universitas Islam Indonesia Department of Architecture Yogyakarta, Indonesia maharika@uii.ac.id Paul Lloyd Sargent / University at Buffalo Department of Media Study Buffalo, USA paulsarg@buffalo.edu Silvia Zaianty / Universitas Islam Indonesia Department of Architecture Yogyakarta, Indonesia silviazaianty@students.ftsp.uii.ac.id Nicole Lee / University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning Buffalo, USA nrlee@buffalo.edu Angelica Piedrahita Delgado / University at Buffalo Department of Media Study Buffalo, USA aypiedra@buffalo.edu Nevena Niagolova / University of Toronto Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design Toronto, Canada n.niagolova@utoronto.ca Fabian Vogelsteller / Bauhaus Universität Weimar Department of Architecture Weimar, Germany kontakt@frozeman.de Abstract— Biosensing technologies, under development since the 1960s, are now moving into the mainstream IT domain. It is only a matter of time before biosensors become as ubiquitous as mobile phones. While biosensing is inherently a technical domain, the acceptance of biosensing technologies into everyday life will more likely be determined by social and cultural factors. In order to imagine how such acceptance (or the opposite thereof) might occur, we have designed an online resource on biosensing and related topics. We then asked students of media design and architecture to speculate on future biosensing scenarios with the help of this resource. This experiment was performed at three universities, one in the United States, one in Canada and one in Indonesia. This paper describes results from this experiment and considers implications for the design procedures of ubiquitous sensor systems in general. Keywords - biosensing, ubiquitous sensing, architecture, sociology, speculative design, prototyping I. INTRODUCTION Biosensors are chemical sensors in which the recognition system utilizes a biochemical mechanism. The biological recognition system translates information from the biochemical domain, usually an analyte concentration, into a chemical or physical output signal with a defined sensitivity [1]. Since Clark and Lyon devised the first glucose sensor in 1962 [2], biosensors have matured and are applicable to the analysis of many bodily conditions. More recently, third generation biosensors (sensors for which there is a direct charge or energy transfer between the biological component and the organic semiconductor [3]) have become robust enough for select commercial use. While biosensors are no longer a technical novelty, they remain exotic IT devices when compared to silicon systems without biological transduction. Moreover, biosensing systems are unique in that they connect people to technical systems more intimately than most other sensor classes. They operate in close proximity to (sometimes inside of) the body to assess conditions below the veneer of social norms. Because of the scale (health and environment) and intensity (ubiquitous distribution) with which biosensing can be expected to operate in the 21st century, biosensing systems will likely have a significant impact on the general public’s relationship to technology. Furthermore, there is strong evidence to suggest that biosensing systems will shift from their currently established territory of personal health care for essential needs (where they have already been investigated by ambient system researchers [4], [5], [6]) into other domains, such as environmental monitoring, wearable computing, and even fashion and entertainment.