Neri Oxman and her team from MIT Media Lab have created Wanderers: An Astrobiological Exploration, which consists in 3d printed wearable items that are designed to enable humans to survive on other planets. Each of the pieces from the collection is created with different plastic densities, each of them being designed for a particular planet. With the help of synthetic biology, the pieces would be used to create micro-habitats that would help people explore other planets, without being exposed to lethal situations, with the aim of creating augmented extensions to our bodies and dissolving the line between the environment and ourselves. “Each piece intends to hold life-sustaining elements contained within 3D-printed vascular structures with internal cavities,” said Oxman. “Living matter within these structures will ultimately transform oxygen for breathing, photons for seeing, biomass for eating, biofuels for moving and calcium for building.
” The Mushtari piece is created for Jupiter, and it imitates the shape of animal intestines, being positioned around the lower abdomen, designed for purposes such as absorbing nutrients. Zuhal is created to resist on vortex storms from Saturn, being covered with a surface that converts the plant’s hydrocarbons to edible matter, while Otareed is designed for Mercury, and is formed by an exoskeleton helmet for the head. The fourth prototype is Al-Qamar, which is fitted around the neck and shoulders, and is considered a “wearable biodome”, with its exterios algae air purifying system, and capacity to produce or store oxygen. Beautiful prototypes, beautiful concept, beautiful design, these are the perfect words to describe Neri Oxman’s collection. 
By:Lidia Ratoi
