Co-designing the computational model and the computing substrate

Given a proposed unconventional computing substrate, we can ask: Does it actually compute? If so, how well does it compute? Can it be made to compute better? Given a proposed unconventional computational model we can ask: How powerful is the model? Can it be implemented in a substrate? How faithfully or efficiently can it be implemented? Given complete freedom in the choice of model and substrate, we can ask: Can we co-design a model and substrate to work well together? Here I propose an approach to posing and answering these questions, building on an existing definition of physical computing and framework for characterising the computing properties of given substrates.