Something I've noticed while developing mycelium-based leather is that many potential users/clients expect it to behave exactly like conventional leather.
Some clients want the same appearance, texture, thickness, and consistency from sheet to sheet, almost as if they were working with synthetic materials. Others are more willing to embrace the fact that biological materials naturally come with a bit of variation.
At first, I thought of it as a limitation. After all, we're working with a living material, and some variation is part of the process. But over time, I've started seeing it differently.
Those expectations have pushed us to ask better questions and improve our processes. Well, in many ways, they have become part of the research itself!
If sustainable materials are going to replace conventional ones at scale, they can't only be environmentally better. They also need to meet the expectations of the people who use them.
For those working with biomaterials, have customer expectations changed the direction of your research or product development?