An interactive programming paradigm for realtime experimentation with remote living matter

Abstract

Life-science research is increasingly accelerated through instrumentation advancements -even supporting the real-time interaction with living matter in the cloud. This enables entirely new applications for research, education, and art. The creation of such applications is currently challenging and time consuming, even for experts, as it requires knowledge of biotechnology, hardware design, and software development in addition to continuous access to reliable and responsive biological materials. We therefore developed Bioty, a JavaScript-based web toolkit enabling rapid prototyping of versatile Human-Biology Interaction (HBI) applications utilizing swarms of motile, phototactic cells hosted on a remote cloud lab. We evaluated and demonstrated the utility of Bioty through user studies with both HBI novices and experts, who used Bioty to create applications such as interactive scientific experiments, biotic video games, and biological art. Our findings inform the design of development toolkits for programming the behavior of biological matter.

Trends & Opportunities in Visualization for Physiology: A Multiscale Overview

“…A growing interest in public science education has led to the development of tools like Bioty [WSGR17], a real‐time programming environment that visualizes cell interactions for non‐experts. As for other topics, hand‐crafted medical illustrations are used to educate audiences on cellular interaction processes, such as the communication between a neuron and muscle cell [Goo09].…”