Beegnal
2023
Winner of the Ecological Innovation Award
Work featured in Artmag magazine
In a future where biodiversity flourishes, wearable devices allow humans to communicate with insects by decoding pheromone signals. This innovation promotes mutual support, enabling humans to sense the needs of insects and collaborate for harmonious coexistence and shared ecological progress.
In 2032 people are fully aware of the importance of preserving biodiversity and humans live in symbiosis with nature. BEEGNAL is a series of device used by humans to communicate with bees
The relationship between humans and insects is mutually beneficial and people learn better from them through simple communication (e.g. the state of the ecosystem, and mental help) then people will also provide them with the benefits of living in the city. So here I focus more on why people need to connect more deeply with insects Many things already exist in today's society that were built with inspiration from insects
Continued with more research on insects, mainly on how they communicate with each other and found that insects communicate with each other through their five senses, which are the same as humans.
Insects can sense each other through their five senses, releasing or receiving pheromones, because of the Vomeronasal organ (VON) in their nasal cavity, a neurological system connected to the hypothalamus, which is equivalent to a pair of chemical receptors in the front of the nasal cavity, which has been shown to be highly degraded in adults but we can still find distinct structures in the newborn baby‘s nasal cavity.
Design opportunity
My concept is to design a series of wearable devices to bring people closer to micro creatures, so that they can sense and communicate with them in a simple way. Most insects communicate through smell, when they use their tentacles to smell each other's 'pheromones' they can communicate precisely，The device can also receive pheromones from insects, and people can use them to find out what they need (e.g. food, clump ,danger, etc.) The pheromones sent by these insects are passed on to people nearby in a designated area so that people can help them more quickly and effectively
Ⅰ .Seeg（connection）
Bees communicate with each other in many ways, and one of them is by releasing pheromones. Insects sense each other's pheromones through the Vomeronasal organ, which is also found in the human nasal cavity but has been degenerated.Seeg mimics the Vomeronasal organ of insects by enhancing the perception of nerve cells in the front of the nasal cavity, so as to perceive the pheromones of bees.
Ⅱ . Infa（Supporting）
The second part of communication is giving feedback when information is received. The other way in which the bees communicate is through dancing. Bees will use the waggle dance to show the rest of the group where the nectar is located. When people with an Infa dance to simulate the bee's movements, the Infa releases low-frequency vibrational waves which cause changes in the pressure and movement of air particles in the surrounding area, allowing bees to receive responses.
Ⅲ .Rejoi（celebration）
Research has shown that when bees feel pleasure, their speed of movement and the frequency of their wing vibrations will change. rejoi amplifies and senses small vibration signals by replicating the vibration receptors in the legs of spiders.