Biomodd[BRG13]
Community art installation in Bruges fusing recycled computers with living ecosystems—building distributed ESP32 sensor networks reading 25-30 biological signals from plants and microorganisms.
Overview
Part of SEADS Network’s ongoing Biomodd series—community art projects that fuse recycled computers with living ecosystems. The BRG13 iteration took place in Bruges, where our student team built a distributed sensor network reading biological signals from plants, Winogradsky columns, and other organisms throughout the installation. These real-time readings fed into a custom networked game where visitors, plants, and digital systems interacted.
My role centered on the technical implementation: designing and deploying the ESP32-based sensor infrastructure, wrestling with WebSocket communication on microcontrollers, and learning hard lessons about hardware limitations under deadline pressure.
How It Was Made
We integrated approximately 25-30 sensors across the installation—moisture sensors in soil, bioelectrical sensors reading plant signals, and ADC amplifiers connected to Winogradsky columns (self-sustaining microbial ecosystems in jars). The technical challenge was implementing WebSocket communication directly on ESP32 Feather boards rather than routing through a central server, creating a truly distributed sensing network.
This was my baptism by fire with ESP32 development. The infamous moment: discovering that the onboard WiFi disables half the analog inputs, a realization that triggered frantic desoldering sessions and circuit redesigns as installation deadlines loomed. During the second week we also built custom physical controllers for game interaction.
Beyond electronics, I collaborated on the conceptual framework with other teams and international SEADS members—the installation wasn’t just about making sensors work, but about what it means to create hybrid systems where biological processes and computational logic operate in genuine dialogue.
Context
Biomodd is an ongoing series of temporary experiments developed on-site with local communities, each iteration sparking conversations about ecology, progress, and technological futures by literally fusing living and computational systems. The complete story of BRG13—including the broader collaborative framework, community engagement, and conceptual foundations—lives on the SEADS project pages.