LOOP

Abstract

We investigated how a physical artifact could support seamless interaction with personal activity data in everyday life. We introduce LOOP (Figure 1), a physical artifact that changes its shape according to the activity data of the owner, providing an abstract visualization. This paper reports on the design process of LOOP that was informed by interviews and co-creation sessions with end users. We conclude with future work on the evaluation of the concept. This paper makes two main contributions. Firstly, LOOP is proposed as an example of an alternative approach to physically represent activity data. Secondly, the design process and rationale behind LOOP are presented as design knowledge.

I/O Bits: User-Driven, Situated, and Dedicated Self-Tracking

“…However, a number of recent projects have begun to examine the use of physical artifacts to connect people with their personal and environmental data. These include Houben et al's dynamic and customizable physicalization cubes [22], Stusak et al 's incrementally-printed activity sculptures [43], and Sauvé's dynamic Loop sculpture [39] -all of which provide glanceable and persistent representations of personally relevant data in everyday spaces.…”

Loop

“…In this section, we discuss the design process, final concept, and implementation of LOOP. We designed LOOP [32], as a new physical ambient artifact that enables people to visualize and reflect on personal activity tracking data ( Figure 1). The aim of designing an abstract and dynamic visualization of real-time data was to (i) provide people with a way of both exploring and reflecting on their activity data over time and (ii) appropriating it to their own interests.…”

“…Additionally, a combination of both absolute and relative cues will allow the user to observe the detailed visualization in their focused attention but also to obtain a synopsis of their performance in their periphery. LOOP [32] visualizes the step data collected from an activity tracker by eight wooden moving rings ( Figure 1). The rings are intended to make it easy to see contrasts between days, while also showing data at various levels.…”

Understanding Youths’ Ability to Interpret 3D-Printed Physical Activity Data and Identify Associated Intensity Levels: Mixed-Methods Study

“…Congruent with theories built on the notion that youth are visual and tactile learners [36-38], a number of studies support the use of tangible objects to promote youth’s intellectual development [39-42]. Given that physical activity occurs in the physical world, tangible representations of physical activity that can be placed in the everyday environment have the potential to make data more available to an individual [43,44]. Indeed, Khot et al [45], investigated the use of an innovative visualization strategy involving 3D printing to create tangible physical activity data for adults, demonstrating that the visual and tactile nature of the data increased the user’s awareness and reflection of their personal physical activity behaviors.…”