A Computational Design Pipeline to Fabricate Sensing Network Physicalizations

TL;DR

This paper presents a computational design pipeline enabling the creation of 3D printed network physicalizations with integrated capacitive sensing for enhanced interaction and exploration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, cohesive workflow that combines form and interactivity considerations for fabricating sensor-enabled physicalizations.

Findings

Pipeline supports intuitive touch-based interaction

Enables rapid fabrication of interactive physicalizations

Validated through computational and user evaluations

Abstract

Interaction is critical for data analysis and sensemaking. However, designing interactive physicalizations is challenging as it requires cross-disciplinary knowledge in visualization, fabrication, and electronics. Interactive physicalizations are typically produced in an unstructured manner, resulting in unique solutions for a specific dataset, problem, or interaction that cannot be easily extended or adapted to new scenarios or future physicalizations. To mitigate these challenges, we introduce a computational design pipeline to 3D print network physicalizations with integrated sensing capabilities. Networks are ubiquitous, yet their complex geometry also requires significant engineering considerations to provide intuitive, effective interactions for exploration. Using our pipeline, designers can readily produce network physicalizations supporting selection-the most critical atomic operation for interaction-by touch through capacitive sensing and computational inference. Our computational design pipeline introduces a new design paradigm by concurrently considering the form and interactivity of a physicalization into one cohesive fabrication workflow. We evaluate our approach using (i) computational evaluations, (ii) three usage scenarios focusing on general visualization tasks, and (iii) expert interviews. The design paradigm introduced by our pipeline can lower barriers to physicalization research, creation, and adoption.