Abstract
In this paper we present "Plant-disco", an interactive physical design object that seeks to make activities in soil (e.g. bugs and plant growth) sensible to humans. With this, we discuss how more-than-human temporalities come to surface (such as plant, soil, microorganisms and machine) and how this creates friction in our human perception of time and interaction. The central aspect of the paper is to discuss how the design, as a result of trying to extend human appreciation of nature into soil, also intervenes in human temporalities by engaging with the seemingly slow pace of nature at a time where most digital technologies primarily seek to stimulate fast-paced sensing. Grounded in more-than-human concerns in design, we discuss some of our design choices as well as the theoretical underpinnings of different temporalities and use this to explore how the design seeks to mediate this tension between the slow and the fast-paced.
Keywords
more-than-human design, soil, plants, interaction design, temporality
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2090
Citation
Rolighed, M., and Hansen, L.K. (2026) Putting an ear to the ground: Attending to Frictions in Human-machine-soil Temporalities, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.2090
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Putting an ear to the ground: Attending to Frictions in Human-machine-soil Temporalities
In this paper we present "Plant-disco", an interactive physical design object that seeks to make activities in soil (e.g. bugs and plant growth) sensible to humans. With this, we discuss how more-than-human temporalities come to surface (such as plant, soil, microorganisms and machine) and how this creates friction in our human perception of time and interaction. The central aspect of the paper is to discuss how the design, as a result of trying to extend human appreciation of nature into soil, also intervenes in human temporalities by engaging with the seemingly slow pace of nature at a time where most digital technologies primarily seek to stimulate fast-paced sensing. Grounded in more-than-human concerns in design, we discuss some of our design choices as well as the theoretical underpinnings of different temporalities and use this to explore how the design seeks to mediate this tension between the slow and the fast-paced.