INTRODUCING BIO-MIMICRY
What is biomimicry and how have designers used it in their work?
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Bio-mimicry can be defined as the design of products & systems that are inspired and informed by nature.
Take a look at this example : Tsunami waves dozens of feet high when they reach shore may only be tens of centimeters high as they travel through the deep ocean. In order to reliably detect them and warn people before they reach land, sensitive pressure sensors must be located underneath passing waves in waters as deep as 6000 meters. Dolphins are able to recognize the calls of specific individuals (“signature whistles”) up to 25 kilometers away, demonstrating their ability to communicate and process sound information accurately despite the challenging medium of water. By employing several frequencies in each transmission, dolphins have found a way to cope with the sound scattering behavior of their high frequency, rapid transmissions, and still get their message reliably heard. Emulating dolphins’ unique frequency-modulating acoustics, a company called EvoLogics has developed a high-performance underwater modem for data transmission, which is currently employed in the tsunami early warning system throughout the Indian Ocean. - Bio-mimicry.org |
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW AND...
Create a new page in your sketch book titled 'Bio-Mimicry'
- Define : What is bio-mimicry?
- Investigate : Why do you think designers might use nature to inspire their designs?
TASK 1 - ANALYSE EXISTING EXAMPLES :
In pairs or on your own..click on the link below and find one interesting example of Bio-mimicry.
Write down :
Write down :
- Identify : What is the animal or plant?
- What was it about the animal or plant that was studied?
- What is one way that understanding this plant or animal could help designers?
TASK 2 - Bio-mimicry Bingo
I have a collection of flashcards. For each animal I want you to :
- Think about whatt do you know about this animal?
- Look at the product and see how many design solutions you can come up with
- In your sketchbook, draw as many solutions as you can
- Share with the group