I would like to further explore some of the issues raised in 'Reports of death exaggerated' discussion after Daniel Weihs' request for biomimetic designs examples. I think the field would benefit from insightful and instructive biomimetic case studies, similar to how the IDSA Catalyst program (http://idsacatalyst.org/) tries to demonstrate the value of design in general. This begs the question as to what constitutes a good biomimetic case study. I propose that there are two main components:
Outcome: is the design:
* novel?
* practical?
* useful?
Novelty is somewhat subjective - one criterion is whether the design would be unlikely or difficult to accomplish using current knowledge and methods. I like Julian's definition of "a machine or concept (e.g. way or organising something) which works in practice." I interpret this as a continuum ranging from a bench model to a prototype, pilot and ultimately a commercially successful product/service (I think this helps address Daniel's concerns about the wide range of reasons that can make commercialisation difficult). To me, usefulness involves solving real problems along with an assessment of the impact (economic, social and environmental).
Assessing the impact should become easier as the maturity of the product or service increases.
Process:
* can we clearly identify the biological phenomenon or an attribute of a natural system that inspired the design?
* was the inspiration based on function?
* was the analogy drawn between the natural and design world accurate?
* are the details of the design process documented and are the steps reasonable?
* and for extra points, are the fundamental concepts generalisable?
I think the 2nd and 3rd points map to Steven's taxonomy of biomorphic, biogenic and biocryptic. I am not sure how to determine biognostic designs unless this relates to the 4th point where the process involves 'and then a miracle occurs'.
Unfortunately, we lack adequate information on many biomimetic designs. The product category in http://asknature.org/browse has 187 entries - a small and random sample found widely varying detail. The details of the design process seem to be the most difficult to identify: I have never been able to 'connect the dots' on the boxfish concept car, but that may be due to intellectual property and confidentiality issues.
Developing a consensus on the characteristics of a good biomimetic case study might spur development of a case study library.
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