Qingyi Pan

Design Futures (MDes)

This page is centred around the concept of ‘if microbes as your identity’ and explores the possibilities of using microbes as biological identity markers and perfume as a means of identity expression.

This page shows the visual effect of the perfume bottle, and the user operating and experiencing the process of customising the body perfume.

This page shows the bio-identity card that the user will get after customising the microbial perfume. As well as the interactive interface shows how the user can customise the appearance of the perfume bottle from extracting their own microbes, understanding the composition of their own biology, re-customising the microbes to form a new body perfume and finally the perfume bottle. This is all used to help the user find a bio-identity that matches their personal needs.

This page shows a prototype sample of a perfume that I am trying to make by extracting my own microorganisms through biological experiments and trying to make it into a perfume. Also, through the method of path diagrams, it tries to analyse the possibilities and general trends of microbial perfumes in the future dating environment.

About

I‘m Qingyi Pan, an interaction designer and user experience designer. I’m focusing on how non-anthropocentrism influences and engages with interaction design and is adept at asking questions and challenging reality in a discursive way. Currently, I prefer to deeply understand how anthropocentrism shapes our view of humanity. I also try to challenge the dualism in anthropocentric views from a non-anthropocentric perspective to promote a deeper understanding of the human self and across species, which is ultimately reflected in design ethics and innovation.

In the biological future, the human environment is increasingly dependent on symbiosis with microorganisms. Microbes have more explicit interactions with humans and become a way for people to understand what constitutes their identity. My project Microbe ME takes the microbes in human body odour as the main body of research, exploring whether microbial perfume can help humans re-understand their identity in the future. Finally, new identities and circumstances are observed in a non-human worldview. The project also links microbial perfumes to future dating scenarios, attempting to explore self-identity through microbial perfumes and help people strengthen their social connections with people in future dating scenarios, ultimately addressing social challenges.

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