Escaping the Labyrinth of Bioinspiration: Biodiversity as Key to Successful Product Innovation

Nature provides an infinite source of inspiration for innovative designs that may be required to tackle the social, economic, and environmental challenges the world faces. Despite the surging popularity and prevalence, the discipline of bioinspiration is limited in unleashing its full potential by the inadequate understanding of biological and evolutionary concepts, often leading to suboptimal solutions and a lack of further development toward successful products. Here, the constraints and limitations that pose potential pitfalls for bioinspiration, but are generally overlooked by most practitioners of bioinspiration, are discussed. It is highlighted that an awareness of biodiversity is key to address this issue, and ultimately to the successful application of bioinspiration in general. Furthermore, a practical approach to the analysis of biodiversity information is provided and attention is drawn to opportunities for improving the translation of biological knowledge into innovative solutions. Primary emphasis is placed on direct bioinspired product innovations, though many of the concepts central to the ideas are applicable to the wider domain of bioinspired materials science, chemical, and systems engineering, among others. With this perspective, the guiding thread that will enable to escape the labyrinth of bioinspiration and follow the right track to successful innovation is brought back.