“Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going?” The BioM Innovation Database

Abstract

We present the BioM Innovation Database, the first of its kind containing detailed information about global biomimetic activity. We present a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the database to address the following questions: (1) Are products, which are identified as being the result of biologically inspired design (BID), actually BID and to what extent do they use biomimicry terminology in their descriptions by the designers? (2) To what extent do BID products mimic the forms, processes and interactions of biological systems? (3) To what extent do BID products exploit the scale and range of biological systems? (4) What patterns of design practice can we learn from successful BID practitioners?

Biomimetics and its tools

“…According to Jacobs et al, 3 some of the reasons which account for the small number of biomimetic products on the market is the lack of a clear method, 4 the difficulties of interdisciplinary work and the complexity of biology as a model. In line with these aspects, studies on teaching students in biomimetics have shown key challenges with the process -that is, communication across discipline boundaries, analysis of problems to solve and identification and understanding of biological systems.…”

“…2 On the other hand, the number of commercially available biomimetic products is rather low (of 303 biomimetic cases, 28% are commercially available, 60% are in development, 8% are concepts and 2% are discontinued). 3 …”

“…3 But so far, no general overview of existing tools from the different disciplines and communities exists. Additionally, little work has focused on theoretical analysis of tools (see Fu et al, 1 Fayemi et al…”

“…Figure 1. Gaps in the biomimetic design process and their underlying challenges 3,5,6 beneficiaries of biomimetics, it is almost impossible to train each of them in specific tools by the developers themselves. And one could assume that people interested in the topic might not have the skills necessary to access the scientific literature fully.…”

“…3 Furthermore, as the research community is fragmented and involves many disciplines, 2,22 the development of these tools originates from different communities (such as the fields of scientific biomimetics, mechanical engineering, design, architecture, sustainability, creativity and innovation) with diverse areas of interest, research priorities and knowledge transfer practices. Although this diversity of disciplines contributes to the potential of biomimetics as an interand transdisciplinary approach, the knowledge and research findings are dispersed throughout academic, patent and popular literature.…”