Designing Sustainable,Emotionally-Resonant Materials with AI

How might AI transform the way we design sustainable materials? This session explores using generative AI to design nature-inspired, emotionally resonant materials & accelerates eco-friendly adoption by helping designers visualize their applications. By generating textures & color maps & applying them to CAD designs using tools like Keyshot and AI platforms, we can create realistic product renders that connect today's lab innovations to tomorrow's market-ready designs. Examples like cactus leather & the wabi-sabi aesthetic highlight AI's challenges and opportunities in capturing the detailed, imperfect beauty of sustainable natural materials--qualities that deeply resonate with humans. Attendees will learn to integrate AI into workflows for sustainable innovation & use nature-inspired palettes to create and visualize materials that evoke humanizing, nurturing triggers. This session blends technology, craft, and sustainability to inspire innovative approaches to eco-conscious design.