Sensus Pond: Exploring Water as Sensing Medium for More-than-Human Observation

2026-08-03

AI Summary

This work challenges anthropocentric paradigms in interaction design by proposing a methodology of “untranslating observation,” which treats water bodies as active perceptual media rather than passive resources. Rejecting the humanization or stabilization of nonhuman signals, the approach positions designers as facilitators of multispecies encounters, foregrounding ambiguity and co-ecological aesthetics. Leveraging swept-frequency capacitive sensing and artificial neural networks, the system captures subtle surface disturbances with high sensitivity and generates temporally accumulated, overlapping visual traces. These trace archives reveal entangled ecological temporalities and spatialities, fostering critical reflection on—and responsive engagement with—shared more-than-human lifeworlds.

Abstract

We introduce Sensus Pond, an interactive system that reconfigures water not merely as a static natural element but as an active sensing medium for registering more-than-human traces. In response to the limitations of anthropocentric approaches in interaction design, we propose a methodological framework of observation without translation, resisting the tendency to stabilize, decode, or humanize nonhuman presence. Drawing from critical theories of more-than-human design and ecological entanglement, Sensus Pond is a materially embedded and site-specific system that employs Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing and an Artificial Neural Network to detect ephemeral interactions between the pond's surface and surrounding life forms. Rather than classifying or interpreting these events, the system visualizes temporal accumulations of overlapping traces, producing a layered archive of spatial and temporal entanglements. This approach emphasizes attunement over control, shifting the designer's role from interpreter to facilitator of open-ended, multispecies encounters. Sensus Pond invites reflection not only on what is sensed, but on how design itself can remain responsive to ambiguity, contingency, and the aesthetics of shared ecological life.

Problem

• more-than-human
• anthropocentrism
• sensing medium
• ecological entanglement
• interaction design

Innovation

• Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing
• Artificial Neural Network
• more-than-human design
• ecological entanglement
• sensing medium