DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENCE IN LIVING MATERIALS: HUMAN–AI–ROBOT INTERACTION IN MYCELIUM-BASED REGENERATIVE DESIGN SYSTEMS

This paper presents Growing Futures, a research-through-design investigation within Living Interaction Design, exploring how perception, interpretation, and material transformation can be distributed across human, computational, and biological agents in adaptive ecological systems. The study proposes a mycelium–robot–human ecosystem in which material formation emerges through environmental feedback. Mycelium operates as a living system that transforms organic waste into structured matter, while robotic components act as environmental mediators that modulate growth conditions through sensing and physical intervention. The implemented system integrates environmental sensors (temperature, humidity, oxygen levels) and camera-based monitoring to support continuous observation of biological growth. These inputs enable a closed-loop process linking environmental conditions, data interpretation, and robotic actuation. At the current stage, computer vision is used only for non-automated visual monitoring and documentation. AI-based classification and advanced computational interpretation are not implemented and are considered future extensions. From a human factors perspective, the system establishes a distributed cognitive environment where human actors act as situated interpreters of sensor-based and visual representations, without replacing human judgment. Through iterative prototyping and four experimental setups (unconstrained growth, controlled casting, robotic nutrient distribution, ecosystem integration), the research examines how material outcomes emerge from interactions between biological agency, robotic mediation, and environmental sensing. The findings frame living material systems as distributed ecological environments where agency is shared across heterogeneous components, while clearly distinguishing between implemented infrastructure and future AI-based developments.