Visionaries Lab　*This exhibition was closed to the public on August 31st, 2023

Here we introduce basic information about microbes, such as the microbes themselves and the relationship between humans and microbes. In addition to the posted text explanations, there are also enlarged photographs taken via electron microscopes that show the details of microbes, an tangible exhibit where visitors can touch and compare the size of microbes to the diameter of a human hair, along with illustrations and other materials that shows how microbes live in different locations both inside and outside the body. This chapter allows visitors to experience the diversity of microbes, living both inside and outside our bodies, and the inseparable relationship between humans and microbes.

This chapter explains the difference in microbial diversity by location in urban areas, etc., based on a large-scale, meta-analysis of urban microbial data, and provides a sense of how the relationship between humans and microbes changes as lifestyles change. This chapter also introduces the "hygiene hypothesis,". It proposes that reduced contact with microbes may influence the onset of allergic diseases, as well as the risk of "drug-resistant bacteria" that have arisen in the battle between pathogenic microbes and humans over antibiotics.

A full-scale model room is set up in the center of the exhibition space. Black lights reveal the presence of microbes that are normally invisible to the naked eye, so in this space visitors can feel the presence of microbes up close. In addition to the ideas proposed by the Visionary (Ito Kohei) to increase the diversity of microbes in living spaces, the exhibition also features ideas from a variety of collaborators to rediscover and reconstruct the relationship between microbes and humans. By placing planting areas adjacent to living spaces, he proposes an ideal outdoor environment in living spaces. Additionally, visitors can also read and listen to a science fiction story set in this living space. By overlapping the model room with the actual living space, visitors can reflect on their own lifestyles and discover hints for a lifestyle that enables live with microbes together.

Nukabot, a robot that can interact with the microorganisms in nukadoko (a type of fermented rice bran mixture used to make Japanese preserved vegetables), is on display. Nukabot is operated with an actual bed of rice bran and that has vegetables in it, and visitors can talk with Nukabot in real time about the status of the vegetables and rice bran, thereby letting visitors consider the possibility of communication between humans and microbes.

[Credit]
Ferment Media Research
Dominique Chen (Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University), Young ah Seong (Faculty of Engineering and Design, Hosei University), Kazuhiro Jo (Faculty of Design, Kyusyu University), Kiichi Moriya (KIICHI / Studies inc.), Naoto Sekiya (Designer), Yuto Mitani (Engineer), Hiraku Ogura (Fermentation Designer)

This work of art visualizes how microbes decompose colorful flowers that were sealed in a glass container. The daily changes in the flowers' appearance and the ecology of the "decomposing" microbes allow visitors to experience the existence of this small, invisible symbiosis.

[Credit]
Mikiko Kamada （Artist/Pants Director）