This paper introduces HighChest, an innovative smart freezer designed to promote energy efficient behavior and the responsible use of food. Introducing a novel human–machine interface (HMI) design developed through assessment phases and a user involvement stage, HighChest is state of the art, featuring smart services that exploit embedded sensors and Internet of things functionalities, which enhance the local capabilities of the appliance. The industrial design thinking approach followed for the advanced HMI is intended to maximize the social impact of the food management service, enhancing both the user experience of the product and the user’s willingness to adopt eco- and energy-friendly behaviors. The sensor equipment realizes automatic recognition of food by learning from the users, as well as automatic localization inside the deposit space. Moreover, it provides monitoring of the appliance’s usage, avoiding temperature and humidity issues related to improper use. Experimental tests were conducted to evaluate the localization system, and the results showed 100% accuracy for weights greater or equal to 0.5 kg. Drifts due to the lid opening and prolonged usage time were also measured, to implement automatic reset corrections.

Biodesign is an emerging disciplinary field that, in its multifaceted nature, finds in transdisciplinarity a promising pathway to address the complex challenges posed by contemporary scenarios. However, specific methodologies that connect the design mindset with the epistemological framework of scientific methods are still lacking. How can we grow the next generation of biodesigners in this scenario? Transdisciplinary dialog provides a foundation for merging design thinking with scientific reasoning, leading to the development of methodologies and educational strategies aimed at creating shared languages and codes that promote synergy between design and science. This study presents the results of a methodological evolution – from multi and interdisciplinary approaches to transdisciplinary ones – through a workshop focused on material design, a course designed to train future biodesigners. This workshop engaged students in collaborative material tinkering activities, working side by side with scientists in an active laboratory setting. The study demonstrates that combining a material-driven design approach with scientific methodologies fosters iterative dialogical relationships, ultimately enriching and substantiating the final design outcomes.

The use of smartphones and digital cameras as color measurement tools is reported. Initially, a careful mathematical analysis of the intrinsic limitations of using an 8-bit RGB color space was conducted, determining the ΔE in terms of sensitivity and conversion error to the CIELab space. Metal coatings were subsequently analyzed under extremely different lighting conditions, obtaining equally different colors. The use of a colorimetric reference card, captured alongside the samples, enabled the minimization of these differences. The possibility of obtaining quantitative results using portable and widely available devices, such as smartphones, even in outdoor environments with uncontrollable lighting conditions provides a valuable analytical tool across various fields, including industrial, decorative, medical, and food applications, especially in the characterization of coatings. Eight-bit RGB devices limit sensitivity in the worst case to ∆E = 1.5. ∆E > 20, as measured by spectrophotometer and smartphone, which was reduced to ∆E < 5 after the proposed processing.

The sustainable design approach has so far particularly referred to methods and tools of an analytical nature, such as Life Cycle Design and Life Cycle Assessment; these are characterized by the direct focus on product and/or service and defined by prevalence of a convergent thought. The project has to deal, by its nature, with complex issues defined as wicked problems that cannot be circumscribed and then linearly resolved; the design act is indeed characterized by being a complex dynamic and not definable in a rational way. The paper identifies methods and tools applied to the POR CreO-FP7 “High Chest” project developed with Whirlpool Europe S.r.l. The design process applied has been then re-created highlighting methods, tools and their areas of relation, which, in Complexity theory, are defined as edge of chaos: these are the areas where the different theories and disciplines do not repel but attract, changing from order to disorder, which consequently leads to organization through interrelationships.

The urgencies of the contemporary scenario impose on the world of design the need for complex responses; the dialogue with other disciplines becomes a fundamental planning source. In this sense, the necessity is to have an increasing need of designers capable of understanding and interacting with the hard sciences in a more conscious and complete way, in order to develop future application scenarios in every aspect of design, from materials to everyday products, up to new systemic scenarios. The contribution presents a 3CFU training experience carried out by the Design for Sustainability Laboratory (University of Florence) which had the aim of introducing students to Material Design and Biodesign. The applied methodology started from the concepts of Material Experience and Material Driven Design, including interdisciplinary skills in the design process from the early design stages. In particular, the students were led to experiment with "biotinkering" solutions with the mycelium - Pleurotus ostreatus - within a biosafety Level (BSL) 1 Lab, creating materials prototypes. In the training activities, students were provided with theoretical notions and resources relating to biology and the scientific method with the aim of combining Design and Life Sciences. From a methodological point of view, this knowledge served to provide future biodesigners with greater awareness of biotechnological processes and laboratory work. The originality and success of the Workshop consist in opening up new design horizons to future biodesigners thanks to a deep knowledge of natural processes and the possibility of consciously designing starting from the micro scale.

This study explores the potential of mycelium as a biofabricated coating for textiles through an interdisciplinary collaboration between designers and scientists. The research begins with exploratory biotinkering, investigating mycelium as a textile coating to understand how textile substrates can function as bioreceptive surfaces for living organisms. Building on these initial observations, interdisciplinary collaborations were activated to further refine the experimental process and to test selected properties of the mycelium-based bio-coating, including abrasion resistance and wetting behaviour. The results demonstrate that mycelium can act as a transformative agent as textile coating, influencing both material performance and enabling new aesthetic expressions grounded in biological growth processes, opening