Understanding and engaging with cultural practices that respond to change and resist oppression are increasingly relevant to critical design in and beyond HCI. While these areas of exploration are no stranger to the practices of bioart and biodesign that draw on the cultural, aesthetic, and practical affordances of living organisms to engage audiences and users in reflection and cultural production, they are less familiar in HCI and computing. In recent years, increased access to low-cost synthetic biology tools and techniques has made it easier for non-experts, including those trained in computing but not biology, to experiment with modifying living organisms for creative and artistic purposes, including at the molecular DNA level. Infinite Transformations in a Suitcase is a multimedia installation that uses bioart, visual art, and music strategies to create a meditative space inviting reflection on the resilience of culture. At its center is a glass of poetry-infused wine created using genetically modified yeast cells whose DNA contains an encoded 14th-century Sufi poem by Hafiz of Shiraz, surrounded by video of it being written in Farsi calligraphy. By combining multiple embodied and abstract poetic elements, the installation invites the audience to reflect on the materiality and movement of culture.

Interacting with materials, including biological and living materials, that embody computation and information has increasingly been of interest to the TEI community. In recent years, increased access to low-cost synthetic biology tools and techniques has made it easier for non-experts to experiment with modifying living organisms for creative and artistic purposes, including at the molecular DNA level. A challenge has been to create engaging and culturally-mediated experiences to make these human-DNA interactions accessible to diverse audiences. Infinite Transformations in a Suitcase is a multimedia installation that creates a mediative space inviting reflection on the resilience of culture. At its center is a glass of poetry-infused wine created using genetically modified yeast cells whose DNA contains an encoding of a 14th-century Sufi poem by Hafiz of Shiraz, surrounded by video of it being written in Farsi calligraphy. By combining multiple embodied and abstract poetic elements, the installation invites the audience to reflect on the materiality and movement of culture.

The current state-of-the-art 2D data visualizations fall short in capturing the intricate complexity and depth of available information crucial for integrated decision-making. In response to this limitation, the Systems Exploration and Engagement environment (SEEe) emerges as a cutting-edge virtual immersive analytics data experience. We developed this system through a user-centered design process involving an interdisciplinary design and development team. Through virtual reality, SEEe seamlessly integrates geo-referenced spatial data, abstract data visualization, and qualitative data encompassing text, images, videos, and conceptual diagrams to support sensemaking from large amounts of multiformat data and integrated decision making. We aim to redefine the experience of analyzing extensive amounts of abstract data by creating an environment that accommodates both quantitative and qualitative data for visualization and analysis. How these novel immersive analytics experiences fit into data analysis workflows in various domains have not been studied widely. We carried out a user study with 10 public health graduate students to test the usability, learnability, and utility of the SEEe experience and to explore how these immersive data visualization experiences can fit into traditional data analysis processes. While SEEe is designed to be adaptable across various domains, we evaluated its performance within the public health context. The results of the evaluation affirm that SEEe is not only usable and useful but also provides a learnable environment conducive to immersive analytics.

Moderation within online communities is critical. Though many guidelines are available that describe the goals of successful moderation, these often minimize the complex interplay that exists between tools and practices of moderators. This study investigates the role of moderation through the lens of the moderators in a nascent online community for adolescents. Based on an analysis of their activities, three classes of emergent behavior were uncovered when exploring how the available tools impacted the way moderator work was performed. The findings reveal a need for design considerations that take into account the appropriateness of match between the tools and work processes from a moderator perspective.