THE MICROBIAL RENAISSANCE
By Chloe Rutzerveld

Soil Skinships
By Lisa Mandemaker

Food Beyond Food
By Eleonora Ortolani

Bio-Intelligent Data
By Sanja Sikoparija

One Health Alliances
By Nonhuman Nonsense

Holobiont Gardens
By Baum & Leahy

What the World Eats
By Peter Andersen

PATTERNS THAT PERSIST
By Genomic Gastronomy

From Farm to Table in a H.W.
By Frederik de Wilde

The Cooking Ape Institute
By Maciej Chmara

HEALTHY FOOD PROTOCOLS
By Katarina Andjelkovic

Poetry of Nutrition
By Irena Djukanovic

Bee-Sustain
By Miljan Stevanović & Beehold

Fermenting Traditions
By Eleonora Ortolani, Malou Van Der Veld & Crafted Kombucha Beverages

Growing Futures
By Daniela Amandolese & Basque Biodesign Center

Neuro-Cooking
By Anna Rosinke & mbraintrain

Nourish
By Sanja Šikoparija & StarLab

Open Agrobiodiversity Accounting Kit
By Genomic Gastronomy & ​​NICETRAILS

Remedy Garden
By Baum & Leahy & Blast Studio

S.O.I.L.
By Letizia Artioli & Uptoearth Italia

S.O.I.L.
By Letizia Artioli & Uptoearth Italia

Sprout to Flourish
By Magda Mojsiejuk & Odd Data & Design Studio

Symphony of Solace
By Robin Jonsson & Dyno Robotics

Fermenting Traditions

By Eleonora Ortolani, Malou Van Der Veld & Crafted Kombucha Beverages

#FermentationSystem #Kombucha #Microbial #Low-tech #DIYspectroscopysensorkit

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

The fermentation tracking system is a low-tech, accessible solution designed for small kombucha brewers, integrating a DIY spectroscopy sensor kit with a web-based dashboard for real-time microbial activity monitoring. It supports authentic fermentation practices by tracking flavor profiles, fermentation progress, and safety parameters, helping brewers refine their craft while ensuring transparency for health-conscious consumers. The concept responds to a future scenario where technological advancements have standardized global food quality, challenging the notion of authenticity tied to geographical origins. Responding to a future where global food standardization threatens artisanal traditions, it preserves microbial biodiversity and strengthens kombucha’s cultural identity. The system creates opportunities for education, sustainability, and market differentiation, allowing brewers to scale without sacrificing authenticity. Its ethical and environmental focus promotes small-scale, biodiversity-friendly production, while cloud integration and historical data storage pave the way for long-term fermentation research and innovation.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: Food beyond Food

The concept responds to a future scenario where technological advancements have standardized global food quality, challenging the notion of authenticity tied to geographical origins. The system preserves the authenticity and artisanal nature of kombucha production by emphasizing microbial biodiversity and offering brewers tools to maintain traditional fermentation processes. It promotes the values of health, sustainability, and cultural identity, countering issues like pasteurization and industrial shortcuts that reduce flavor quality and cause more issues to gut health rather than supporting the gut.

Technology

The DIY spectroscopy sensor kit will allow us to analyze multiple metabolites (e.g., glucose degradation, lactic & acetic acid, glucuronic acid) responsible for the flavour within the kombucha. This will inform the brewer through a simple interface. The interface allows the brewer to set their own parameters and variables, such as thea and sugar usage). A spectrometer is easily buildable with off the shelf products. The analysis models we can develop with the help of London Metropolitan University.

Neuro-Cooking

BY Anna Rosinke & mbraintrain

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

The project redefines “food as medicine” through three key pillars: Planetary, Mental, and Physical Health, emphasizing the multi-sensory and therapeutic aspects of cooking. Cooking engages all senses, and the lack of tactile stimulation has been linked to mental health issues like touch hunger. The project aims to create a wearable prototype equipped with EEG, motion, pulse, and muscle contraction sensors to analyze users’ emotional states in real-time. By responding with tailored cooking instructions, the wearable supports mental well-being, cognitive development, and fine motor skills, making it a potential tool for personalized therapy. The research phase explored case studies on food preparation, sensory experiences, and technology, forming a foundation for hardware development and basic cooking techniques. Given the deep cultural and personal significance of food, the project seeks to personalize cooking education similarly to how nutrition is individualized.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: The Cooking Ape Institute

The Remis project builds on the Cooking Ape Institute scenario, highlighting the mentally beneficial aspects of food preparation as part of a holistic approach to food as medicine. It recognizes cooking as a meditative and therapeutic practice, integrating anthropological, physiological, and psychological perspectives. Inspired by Wrangham’s research, the project acknowledges the role of cooking in fine motor skill development, skin and gut microbiome health, and multi-sensorial experiences that enhance mental well-being.

The project envisions a wearable device that tracks EEG, motion, pulse, and muscle contractions, offering real-time analysis of emotional states. This data informs adaptive cooking instructions aimed at relaxation, cognitive improvement, and therapeutic support. The broader goal is to explore new ways of teaching cooking, emphasizing its mental health benefits while remaining connected to planetary and physical health. Currently, mental health is the core focus, but future iterations—potentially supported by AI models—will integrate planetary and physical health aspects more deeply. The Future Compass framework underpins this multi-dimensional approach, guiding the project’s evolution beyond MUSAE 2.

Technology

For the Remis project, the project uses dry EEG electrodes to detect brainwaves, and the adapted app mentioned above to detect emotions and mood. We will utilize the SMARTING PRO X EEG amplifier, which can capture data across multiple c: EEG, Channels (modalities): ECG (pulse), motion sensors, audio envelope via microphone input, and EMG (muscle contractions).

Remedy Garden

BY Baum & Leahy & Blast Studio

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

Remedy Garden is a bio-inclusive architectural system designed to cultivate medicinal food for urban health. This vertical garden, made from reclaimed clay and bricks 3D-printed into biomorphic modules inspired by the human digestive system, fosters interspecies relationships between plants and insects while ensuring efficient irrigation and low maintenance. Integrated with urban health facilities like GP’s offices, pharmacies, and hospitals, Remedy Garden provides a sensorial experience and exemplifies future systems where microbiodiversity and the concept of “food as medicine” are woven into cities. The garden includes species such as Calendula and Garlic, promoting holobiont health and offering visitors educational information and places to engage with the space.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: Holobiont Gardens

The Remedy Garden project is closely aligned with the values presented in the Holobiont Gardens scenario and the Future Compass. In 2034, the understanding of all living organisms as holobionts has transformed the world. The project emphasizes education by creating embodied experiences of holobiont health, both physically within the garden and digitally through additional content. It also promotes sustainability by drawing on traditional ecological knowledge, environmental justice, and interdisciplinary research. Remedy Garden advocates for both personal and planetary health through a blend of sacred practices and new technologies. The project also fosters multispecies community care by encouraging cross-cultural and cross-species communal experiences. Additionally, the values of accessibility and long-term perspective guide the design, focusing on the future impact of the project.

Technology

The Remedy Garden’s technological development is centered around three key innovations in materials, design, and production. The first innovation focuses on material development, using locally sourced waste streams to create functional biomaterials, including plant-supporting and water-resistant blends. The second innovation is in design, where a generative algorithm creates plant-specific geometries based on environmental parameters, ensuring that each module is customized to local conditions. The third innovation involves a patentable extruder system designed to support bio-based materials, with features such as anti-clogging and shrinkage compensation. These innovations enable the creation of a scalable, sustainable, and bio-inclusive architectural system, offering a model for low-impact, circular manufacturing that can be replicated globally to support biodiversity and community health.

Nourish

BY Sanja Šikoparija & StarLab

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

This concept envisions a versatile neurofeedback tool that reshapes how individuals and industries understand the relationship between food and brain function. Designed for both emotional response measurement and cognitive assessment, the tool provides data-driven insights into how food affects mood, focus, and stress levels, supporting personalized nutrition and mental well-being.
Industries such as food technology and nutrition science can leverage this data to develop tailored products that enhance emotional and cognitive performance. The tool seamlessly integrates into daily wellness routines, using EEG data and AI algorithms to deliver insights through a user-friendly interface, without requiring additional tests or user inputs.
During development, traditional cognitive assessments and emotional questionnaires will be used to validate EEG metrics, ensuring accuracy and reliability. The final product will offer scalable, non-intrusive assessments, making neurofeedback an accessible part of everyday life. Its ability to track both immediate emotional reactions and long-term cognitive effects has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of food’s impact on mental and emotional health, driving adoption across multiple industries.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: Bio-intelligent Data

The Nourish concept aligns with the Futures Compass, promoting sustainability, health, and equity through AI-driven, real-time insights into the emotional and cognitive effects of food. By encouraging eco-friendly dietary choices and empowering individuals to detect subtle changes in well-being, it fosters proactive health management and a healthier relationship with food. Designed to be affordable and inclusive, Nourish minimizes health disparities while maintaining data security and user autonomy. Its evidence-based approach ensures reliable recommendations, reducing unintended health risks. By balancing innovation with ethical considerations, Nourish bridges personalized nutrition with societal well-being, paving the way for a more sustainable, equitable, and health-conscious future.

Technology

The Nourish tool utilizes advanced AI and EEG technology to provide real-time insights into how food affects emotional and cognitive states. The AI analyzes EEG signals to track emotional responses and cognitive performance, offering personalized feedback for improved mental well-being and cognitive function. A validation study with EEG data will ensure the tool’s accuracy, comparing emotional responses and cognitive task performance before and after food consumption. The system integrates machine learning models to classify emotional states and estimate cognitive performance. Designed for scalability, the tool can adapt to new EEG devices and sensor technologies, ensuring ongoing relevance and future-proofing. Nourish is applicable across healthcare, food, and nutrition industries, supporting healthier, sustainable dietary choices with a focus on emotional and cognitive health.

Open Agrobiodiversity Accounting Kit (OAAK)

BY Genomic Gastronomy & ​​NICETRAILS

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

OAAK is a digital tool designed to facilitate participatory, place-based species quests for agricultural biodiversity accounting on small-scale farms. It connects eaters and farmers by generating meaningful data to meet biodiversity standards or participate in emerging biodiversity credit schemes. The tool integrates AI and citizen science to assess and monitor agricultural biodiversity in Europe, supporting the agricultural green transition. OAAK works with agritourism agencies, where farmers register their farm details (location, crops, dates) and offer farm visits through the app. Visitors are then guided through specific quests that focus on cataloging species (plants, animals, fungi) and tracking biodiversity changes over time, enhanced by regional data and continuous assessments.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: Patterns that Persist

We started with the scenario “Biodiversity as the measure of healthy food systems” and the key assumption that top-down regulation or a biodiversity credits market will implore or encourage farmers to measure biodiversity. Small-scale farms have less resources to do this than large-scale conventional farms do, and farmers are already very busy and overwhelmed with paperwork. The task of measuring biodiversity needs to be simplified.
After identifying the values we held like pleasure, optimism, openness, resilience, adaptability, commitment, and equity, we asked ourselves the critical question: “What future are we building?” When we look at the (agro-)tech market, we see the development of smart machines, and the de-skilling of humans. Humans are more and more isolated by alienating technologies. In contrast to this, OAAK aims to build a future that is: convivial, community-oriented, re-skilled, healthy, and resilient. Thus, we want to build a technology that is: social, embedded, multi-purpose, and cooperative.

Technology

OAAK’s TLR-5 prototype will leverage several technologies to facilitate species identification and biodiversity tracking. It will use AI vision models for species detection, potentially incorporating multi-modal large language models (LLMs) for image recognition. LLMs will help create a dynamic guide based on user inputs, location, and farmer expectations. Data APIs, like the iNaturalist API, will gather contextual data, while AI embeddings will help visualize and compare the collected data in an intuitive way. The tool will guide users to discover species through a conversational interface, linking specific species to their environments. Ultimately, OAAK will compile a crowdsourced agrobiodiversity dataset, incorporating species, locations, and times.

Bee-Sustain

By Miljan Stevanović & Beehold

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

BeeSustain is an innovative solution that integrates AI, IoT-based hive monitoring, and an interactive Art Book to support sustainable beekeeping and biodiversity conservation. The mobile app provides real-time data and AI-driven insights for optimizing hive placement, predicting nectar flow, and improving hive management. The Art Book enhances user engagement by blending artistic storytelling with scientific education on pollination and sustainability. Designed for accessibility, BeeSustain empowers both beekeepers and citizens to contribute environmental data, fostering community participation and ecological awareness. By merging technology, art, and citizen science, it promotes modern, data-driven beekeeping while preserving pollinator ecosystems.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: Patterns that Persist

BeeSustain aligns with the Patterns That Persist scenario by tackling biodiversity loss, declining pollinator populations, and the need for sustainable agriculture. It supports ecosystem sustainability through AI-driven hive management, optimizing pollination and protecting bee populations. Its adaptability helps beekeepers respond to climate change with predictive insights on nectar flow, ensuring resilience. By fostering data transparency, BeeSustain strengthens consumer trust in authentic honey while enhancing food security, supporting farmers, and boosting rural economies. On a global scale, it aids biodiversity preservation and ethical trade, promoting sustainable agricultural practices. Through technology and community engagement, BeeSustain offers a holistic approach to ecological and economic challenges.

Technology

BeeSustain leverages cutting-edge hardware, software, and artificial intelligence to provide an integrated solution for sustainable beekeeping and biodiversity monitoring. By combining IoT devices, a robust software platform, and advanced AI models, BeeSustain offers an innovative approach to hive management and environmental stewardship.

Growing Futures

By Daniela Amandolese & Basque Biodesign Center

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

Growing Futures envisions a symbiotic ecosystem where humans, mycelium, and robots collaborate to create sustainable, biodegradable habitats from local waste. Inspired by nature’s cycles, the project embraces a circular—spiral—model, transforming waste into adaptable structures that enrich the soil upon decomposition. Robots monitor and guide mycelium growth, mimicking natural systems like fungal networks and ant colonies, enabling self-repairing, bio-responsive habitats. By integrating technology with biological intelligence, Growing Futures redefines sustainable design, fostering a regenerative relationship between humans and nature while positioning mycelium as an active participant in material creation.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: What the World Eats

The Growing Futures project aligns with Peter Andersen’s scenario by addressing global warming and fostering Hybrid Natures, where technology bridges human and natural systems. Inspired by mycelium’s regenerative properties, the project embraces coexistence between humans and fungi, leveraging fungal structures that grow, build, and repair themselves. Guided by the Future Compass, it prioritizes Collaboration (a symbiotic ecosystem of humans, mycelium, and robots), Efficiency (mycelium’s energy-conscious growth), Adaptability (its responsiveness to local environments), and Responsibility (a commitment to sustainable, future-proof solutions). The project serves as a scalable model for integrating organic materials into resilient, eco-conscious design.

Prototypes & Technology

The project explores the evolving interactions between mycelium, humans, and robotics through a series of controlled experimental Settings, integrating sensors and robotics to monitor, influence, and adapt growth.

• Setting 01 – Unconstrained Growth: A controlled environment tracks mycelium growth using sensors that monitor temperature, humidity, pH, oxygen levels, and infrared data. This data informs analyses of surface expansion, growth direction, and responses to nutrition.
• Setting 02 – Controlled Casting: Introduces user interactivity, allowing adjustments to casting forms and nutrient distribution while continuing sensor-based monitoring.
• Setting 03 – Robots That Feed: Integrates robotics to distribute nutrients along growth paths, using sensor data to define movement and timing for optimal growth patterns.
• Setting 04 – Ecosystem: Combines human-coded design inputs with robotic actions, guiding growth while allowing adaptive interactions between design intentions and mycelium’s natural behavior.

Throughout the process, human roles shift from observation to active collaboration, enabling a responsive and evolving symbiotic system.

S.O.I.L.

By Letizia Artioli & Uptoearth Italia

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

Grounded in the exploration of soil as a living entity within the framework of Bio-Intelligent Data, the project investigates the profound interconnection between the human body and the soil through sensory and proprioceptive processes embedded in an innovative wearable technology. Central to this exploration is the concept of attunement, where the wearer aligns iteratively with the dynamic rhythms of the soil, fostering an embodied awareness of its health and vitality.

By translating environmental data into tactile and sonic stimuli, it amplifies the wearer’s awareness, creating a symbiotic relationship with the earth’s skin: soil as a living, breathing entity. The aim is to foster a reimagined engagement with the environment through sensorial stimuli that reconnect humans with soil’s intrinsic value. This holistic approach frames soil as “S.O.I.L.—Sensing Outer Identities Landscape,” emphasizing its central role in ecological and sensory regeneration.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: Soil Skinships

The wearable technology concept is aligned with the BIO INTELLIGENT DATA scenario, which envisions a future where the boundary between the physical and digital worlds is blurred. The project connects human proprioception with environmental data, specifically soil health, by translating this data into haptic feedback and sensory stimuli. This creates a new language that allows humans to experience the flow of data from the earth directly through their bodies. In a world where soil biodiversity is under threat, the wearable amplifies the connection between humans and the environment by transforming soil data into sound and vibration, giving voice to the often-overlooked soil microbiome. This hybrid interaction fosters a deeper understanding of living data, making the human body a sensor that perceives the hidden patterns and needs of the earth, thereby creating a symbiotic relationship between humans, non-humans, and the environment. The project envisions a future where human decisions are informed by biological intelligence and emotional connections to the natural world.

Technology

The technology underpinning the project integrates two interconnected components: IoT systems and wearable devices. These elements are designed to function cohesively within a comprehensive data chain, facilitating seamless communication and feedback between the physical environment and the human body. The IoT component gathers real-time data from the soil, capturing critical environmental metrics, while the wearable device interprets and conveys this information directly to the user. The data chain scheme below illustrates this dynamic flow, emphasizing the continuous exchange between the natural world and the individual, creating an integrated system that enhances situational awareness and decision-making. This approach positions the user as an active participant within the broader ecological and technological network.

S.O.I.L. AI

By Michael Wallinger & Microfy Systems

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

SoilAI is an accessible, user-friendly cyberphysical system designed for automated microbiome analysis of soil samples using image processing and artificial intelligence. The system consists of a digital microscope, desktop app, AI module, and dashboard, enabling non-lab users to easily analyze soil samples with minimal preparation. The digital microscope scans soil samples on multiple planes, capturing high-resolution images that are then uploaded to the cloud for processing. AI algorithms classify microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and other soil organisms, into functional groups, determining whether they are beneficial or pathogenic. The system provides users with a clear, understandable report, including insights relevant to the type of crops being grown, allowing for informed soil management decisions.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: Patterns that Persist

The scenario we have chosen is “Patterns that persist”. This scenario draws a utopia in which biodiversity becomes the new benchmark for a healthy food system after a new law by the European Union. But it also draws a polarized future between early adopters and people who feel left behind. While the scenario and a large part of the discourse pays a lot of attention on increasing the population of pollinator insects, the invisible but much larger biodiversity of soil microorganisms sometimes seems to be a bit out of focus. Our team has selected this scenario because it is seriously concerned about the overall food system’s health and sustainability and how food production & consumption will compensate each other over the years to come, considering Earth’s growing population combined with a future lack of resources. Our concept focuses on soil microorganism communities and aims to support the transition to healthy i.e. regenerative soil ecosystems. As an accessible decision support system, it helps to assess agro-ecological and other biodiversity-friendly practices based on indicators of soil biodiversity.

Technology

SoilAI is an integrated system combining hardware and software to autonomously analyze soil microbiomes. The hardware includes an automated microscope with robotics for scanning soil samples at different magnifications, while the software consists of an app, a dashboard, and AI models. The microscope scans the sample, capturing images for processing in the cloud, where AI algorithms identify and classify soil organisms, such as bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and others. The app controls the microscope and communicates with the cloud, while the dashboard displays results. Future advancements include automating the sample loader and objective switching. AI elements include traditional image processing algorithms for edge detection (Sobel, Laplacian, Canny) and deep learning models (FastRCNN/MaskRCNN, EfficientNET) for detecting and classifying species. Custom datasets will be created to train the models for accurate identification and classification, focusing on various soil organisms at different magnifications.

Sprout to Flourish

By Magda Mojsiejuk & Odd Data & Design Studio

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

The Algorithmic Simulator for Designing Regenerative Farming Practices will focus on companion planting, offering a practical tool to optimize small to medium scale sustainable farming systems. This simulator will enable users to design planting layouts that enhance biodiversity, improve soil health, and support natural pest control by suggesting intelligent crop pairings based on ecological principles. It will generate dynamic layouts by incorporating data on plant relationships—such as nitrogen fixation, pest resistance, and growth patterns.
Grounded in regenerative agriculture and permaculture, this design tool will provide a user-friendly interface to plan farm layouts that maximize ecological benefits, helping farmers make informed, sustainable decisions within a streamlined development timeline.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: Patterns that Persist

The Algorithmic Permacultural Planning Simulator addresses key issues raised by the “Patterns that Persist” scenario, including complicated design practices, ideological polarization, and farmers feeling disenfranchised. The tool simplifies complex planting and harvesting decisions, enabling farmers to design biodiverse, climate-resilient systems, similar to the thriving food forests mentioned in the scenario. By combining traditional agroecological practices with advanced AI and environmental analysis, it supports the transition from extractive to regenerative agricultural models while promoting collaboration. The simulator aligns with the scenario’s vision of algorithmic planting and transforming bioregions, helping farmers adapt to changing climate conditions and work together towards sustainable agroecological practices.

Technology

The system is a closed-loop, algorithm-assisted design and planning framework that emphasizes adaptability and collaborative intelligence. It evolves by refining its understanding through human input and algorithmic analysis, and works with incomplete data. The system is powered by four key databases: a Macro Context Database (large-scale environmental data), a Micro Context Database (localized measurements), a Species Database (plant and organism information), and a Relationship Graph Database (species interactions). Using design guidelines and user inputs, it runs a simulation to optimize species selection, evaluate species relationships, and generate a spatial layout. The results are displayed as a layered design map, allowing users to adjust inputs and refine the design iteratively. The system operates on a Google Cloud instance with a web-based user interface.

Symphony of Solace

by Robin Jonsson & Dyno Robotics

VIDEO

Concept & Prototype description

The selected concept for the project is a desktop robot, chosen for its affordability, which makes it accessible to a larger population, including elderly relatives or municipalities looking to provide the product. This option allows for significant artistic input in designing human-robot communication, fostering the desired relationship between users and the robot. Compared to other concepts, the desktop robot offers greater flexibility in design and emphasizes the robot’s character and movement, without heavily focusing on AI technology. Additionally, it addresses the key factors for a good meal for the elderly, which are easily implemented in this concept.

Connection to the scenario
Future scenario: Poetry of Nutrition

This connects to the scenario of a world where deteriorated health among all generations and pandemics contributes to an increasing part of the population living in isolation, with few to none social interactions. Trends show that the world population is aging rapidly, at the time of the scenario in 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be over the age of 60, calling for a society that is better and rapidly adapted for a fast growing elderly population in need of care and support (World Health Organisation, 2024). The concept addresses first hand the values from the Futures Compass in regards to Resilience, Care, Health and Equality. Increasing social resilience for the isolated elderly, being one piece of the Care of our elderly, helping them retain good health and being a cheap product for everyone to ensure equality. In second degree the robot also assists with Knowledge, as the robot is always close at hand, and can assist in providing good factful information.

Technology

The project’s technical focus is on robotics, specifically using a desktop robot that is affordable and flexible, allowing for iterative development and testing. This approach enables the integration of LLMs (large language models) to enhance user interaction while evaluating various robot platforms. The goal is to select the best robot by testing its communication capabilities and adaptability, ensuring it meets requirements such as microphone, speakers, Wi-Fi connectivity, programmability, and controllable movement. Additionally, features like screens, wheels, arms, LEDs, and touch sensors are considered to enhance human-robot interaction. Multiple platforms, including LeTianPai Rux, LivingAI’s Emo, Eilik, and AIBI, are being explored as potential candidates for the project. The team will continue iterating on the platform, refining communication methods and nutrition assistance tailored to the target audience.