Genetically Engineered Babies
Award Winner — SIGGRAPH 2026 Speculative Futures International Student Competition
Showcased at ACM SIGGRAPH 2026 Digital Arts Community
Genetically Engineered Babies is an interactive installation that simulates the selection and purchase of a genetically engineered child. Examining medically assisted reproduction, designer babies, and surrogate parenthood, the work questions the transformation of parenthood from a private, intimate choice into a consumer-driven entitlement.
The Interaction
Visitors begin by picking up a baby-shaped apple sculpture from a basket, which triggers a screen revealing that baby’s genetic profile. They are then led through a digital checkout process, ending with a printed receipt that records their name alongside the baby’s name and traits. Through the apple baby’s reactions—giggles when gently handled, cries when held roughly, and soft breathing when left undisturbed—the work questions the boundary between product and person.
- Pick up
- Genetic profile
- Checkout / signature
- Printed receipt
Behind Edenics
Genetically Engineered Babies operates under the fictional corporate identity Edenics and is a networked interactive installation combining sculpture, embedded electronics, sound, a custom web interface, and receipt printing. The system uses a local wireless network to enable real-time communication between physical sculptural objects—the apple babies—and a central touchscreen kiosk that functions as both web server and transaction terminal. Custom-programmed microcontrollers, asynchronous web routing, and localized audio playback work together to create a responsive interactive environment.
Apple baby + MPU6050→Arduino Nano ESP32
Movement / local sound
Motion threshold→DFPlayer Mini + speaker
Pickup / screen + receipt
Pickup event→Local Wi-Fi request→Primary ESP32 server
Touchscreen profile→Checkout + signature→Thermal printer
Two of the sculptures are active units containing embedded electronics: an Arduino Nano ESP32 microcontroller, an MPU6050 6-axis accelerometer, a DFPlayer Mini audio module, an internal speaker, and batteries. The accelerometer continuously measures movement, allowing the microcontroller to calculate changes in acceleration and trigger different localized sound files according to specific motion thresholds. These audio responses include subtle breathing sounds when the object remains still, and giggling or crying when it is moved more abruptly.
A primary ESP32 runs an asynchronous web server using ESPAsyncWebServer and serves a custom graphical interface stored locally in flash memory via the LittleFS file system. When a visitor lifts one of the active apple sculptures, the internal motion sensor detects the pickup event and the embedded microcontroller sends an HTTP GET request over the local Wi-Fi network to the central server’s /pickup endpoint, transmitting the sculpture’s unique ID.
The touchscreen interface updates in real time by polling the server’s /state endpoint, allowing the system to display the corresponding baby’s genetic profile, projected traits, and assigned market value. This digital interaction culminates in a simulated transaction. After navigating the selected baby’s profile, the user proceeds to a checkout screen, where they sign their name using an HTML5 canvas element. Upon confirmation, the system sends the transaction data to a thermal printer via UART serial communication, producing a customized corporate “Edenics” receipt.
Concept & Critical Context
The apple-inspired form evokes the symbolism of the Garden of Eden, referencing knowledge and sin, and serves as a critique of technological ambition and moral transgression in the context of medically assisted reproduction.
Modern reproductive technologies offer a false promise of absolute control over life’s uncertainties, suggesting that individuals can fully manage risks and select desired traits. This illusion of control places overwhelming responsibility on prospective parents, pressuring them to decide which lives are worth creating based on perceived desirability. Such decision-making normalizes and reinforces the belief that certain lives are more valuable than others, ignoring life’s inherent unpredictability and diversity.
This printed output completes the interaction and reinforces the work’s critique of reproductive commodification, eugenic selection, and the consumer logic embedded in contemporary biotech imaginaries.
By turning parenthood into a transactional experience, the work questions how biotechnology, optimization culture, and eugenic thinking may reshape ideas of value, care, and which kinds of lives are considered desirable.
The Sculptural Objects
The physical installation consists of a basket containing five apple babies hand-sculpted from air-dry clay and painted with acrylic.