Data to Physicalization: A Survey of the Physical Rendering Process

Abstract

Physical representations of data offer physical and spatial ways of looking at, navigating, and interacting with data. While digital fabrication has facilitated the creation of objects with data‐driven geometry, rendering data as a physically fabricated object is still a daunting leap for many physicalization designers. Rendering in the scope of this research refers to the back‐and‐forth process from digital design to digital fabrication and its specific challenges. We developed a corpus of example data physicalizations from research literature and physicalization practice. This survey then unpacks the “rendering” phase of the extended InfoVis pipeline in greater detail through these examples, with the aim of identifying ways that researchers, artists, and industry practitioners “render” physicalizations using digital design and fabrication tools.

The Candy Workshop: Supporting Rich Sensory Modalities in Constructive Data Physicalization

“…Similarly, Ryokai et al [15] created tangible representations of laughter, including the poetic physicalization of laughter data of family members over multiple weeks using edible materials. While researching alternative sensory or multi-sensory physicalizations is high on the research agenda [2,4,8], a challenge already identifed by Vande Moere in 2008 [13] is "how to map information values into non-visual sensations that somehow can be intuitively understood".…”

“…The singularity here is that the physicalization of the data is done by the participants themselves in a constructive process. Designing physicalizations using other sensory modalities than sight and touch was mentioned as an underexplored area deserving further research in 2016 [4] which still appears relevant today [2]. Our contributions are threefold.…”

“…What is the potential of this approach and why would one want to physicalize data? A myriad of scenarios of use have emerged around data physicalization, the predominant ones identifed in recent literature reviews [2,4] being: (a) for the general public, simplifying the understanding of data, raising awareness or supporting decision-making, (b) for individuals, keeping track of personal data about tasks and activities for self-awareness, refection or behavior change, (c) for individuals with specifc needs, improving accessibility of data in various contexts, (d) as tools for educators, researchers and engineers.…”

Data Knitualization: An Exploration of Knitting as a Visualization Medium

“…To have a visually interesting temperature knit, the yarn colors need to be carefully selected for appropriately discretized temperature intervals, much like in data visualization. Many other examples exist, the train delay scarf by Sara Weber's mom 4 and the baby sleep patterns blanket by Seung Lee 5 come to mind. What these projects all have in common is that 4 https://twitter.com/sara__weber/status/ 1081950904671240192 5 https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/21/20699484/ they are turning very personal data stories into their own meaningful and wearable data visualization.…”

“…My hypothesis is that knitting can offer a similar experience, allowing people to slow down and get in touch and feel data in a very personal and physical sense. Recently, Hessampour et al [4] 2 presented a comprehensive survey on the topic of data physicalization, highlighting many opportunities for physical data rendering. Knitting might be an additional opportunity, albeit a slow and imprecise one.…”