Abstract
As micro plastics gradually infiltrate the physiological structures and sensory characteristics of edible plants, this study combines empirical research and speculative design to construct an illustrated guide of edible flora in the “New Plastic Age”, which we herein conceptualize as the Neo-Plasticene. Through AI-assisted narrative and visual generation, the guide simulates potential morphological and sensory mutations in plants subjected to pollution stress—articulating intermediary species positioned between nature and artificiality, defined by their latent transformation and persistent edibility. This project addresses the perceptual challenge of slow ecological mutation by proposing the guidebook as a design medium for future food narratives and environmental perception, offering an extensible model for speculative research in sensory design, pollution visualization, and ecological storytelling.
Keywords
Speculative Design; Microplastics; Edible Plants; Post-Natural Ecology
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.785
Citation
Cheng, H.,and Liang, R.(2025) An Illustrated Guide to Edible Flora in the Neo-Plasticene: From Empirical Research to Sensory Speculation through Design, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.785
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 2 - Design Futuring
An Illustrated Guide to Edible Flora in the Neo-Plasticene: From Empirical Research to Sensory Speculation through Design
As micro plastics gradually infiltrate the physiological structures and sensory characteristics of edible plants, this study combines empirical research and speculative design to construct an illustrated guide of edible flora in the “New Plastic Age”, which we herein conceptualize as the Neo-Plasticene. Through AI-assisted narrative and visual generation, the guide simulates potential morphological and sensory mutations in plants subjected to pollution stress—articulating intermediary species positioned between nature and artificiality, defined by their latent transformation and persistent edibility. This project addresses the perceptual challenge of slow ecological mutation by proposing the guidebook as a design medium for future food narratives and environmental perception, offering an extensible model for speculative research in sensory design, pollution visualization, and ecological storytelling.