Bio-inspired life-like motile materials systems: Changing the boundaries between living and technical systems in the Anthropocene

Abstract

A current trend observed in the Anthropocene is the search for bioinspired solutions. Since it became possible to change the quality of the boundary between living and technical systems, more and more life-like technical products have been developed in recent years. Using five plant-inspired developments of motile technical systems for architecture and soft-robotics, we show how the boundary between living and technical systems undulates, shifts, perforates, blurs, or dissolves with increasing life-likeness. We discuss what causes theses changes in the boundary and how this contributes to the overall aim to achieve higher resilience, robustness, and improved esthetics of plant-inspired products. Inspiration from living systems that make efficient and economic use of materials and energy and are fully recyclable after “service time” may additionally contribute to sustainable material use, one of the major challenges in the Anthropocene.