VISUALISING SPECULATIVE MATERIALS: USING TEXT-TO-IMAGE PROMPTING TO ELABORATE LIVINGNESS AS A DESIGNED MATERIAL QUALITY

Generative AI (GAI) technologies have started to transform design processes through integration into various stages such as research, ideation, visualisation, and reporting. Designers use textual prompts to quickly incorporate AI into their workflow, involving crafting precise sentences and keywords to guide desired outcomes. This paper focuses on using Midjourney, a popular text-to-image GAI program, in an academic research-through-design (RtD) process within a bio design workshop. The workshop explored future cohabitation possibilities with living materials, using design fiction to gain empirical data. Midjourney was used to convert design fiction narratives into visual representations to provoke design discussion. The narratives were initially created through recordings and creative outputs. Then, each was analysed and transformed into a GAI prompt, incorporating specific descriptive elements from each workshop participant's narrative. Midjourney was effective in this context because it visually bridges the gap between the abstract nature of fiction and the tangible aspects of material design, contextualising design proposals in futuristic settings. The approach facilitated the quick generation of visual interpretations of living materials, prompting discussions on the viability of their qualities. The results underline two key insights: text-to-image GAI programs like Midjourney offer significant potential for visualising narrative-based design concepts and broader story worlds. Secondly, these programs can aid in exploring and communicating the functional and experiential qualities of new or proposed materials, improving stakeholder engagement in design education and practice and indicating one of the emerging roles of GAIs in future design processes.