Dynamic Composite Data Physicalization Using Wheeled Micro-Robots

• Published in: IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 737 - 747
• Main Authors: Le Goc, Mathieu, Perin, Charles, Follmer, Sean, Fekete, Jean-Daniel, Dragicevic, Pierre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IEEE 01.01.2019; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Animation; Collaboration; Computer Science; data physicalization; Data visualization; Decision making; Human computer interaction; information visualization; Microrobots; Scientific visualization; Shape; tangible user interfaces; Two dimensional displays; Visualization; information visualization; tangible user interfaces; Index Terms-information visualization; data physicalization
• ISSN: 1077-2626; 1941-0506; 1941-0506
• DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2018.2865159

This paper introduces dynamic composite physicalizations, a new class of physical visualizations that use collections of self-propelled objects to represent data. Dynamic composite physicalizations can be used both to give physical form to well-known interactive visualization techniques, and to explore new visualizations and interaction paradigms. We first propose a design space characterizing composite physicalizations based on previous work in the fields of Information Visualization and Human Computer Interaction. We illustrate dynamic composite physicalizations in two scenarios demonstrating potential benefits for collaboration and decision making, as well as new opportunities for physical interaction. We then describe our implementation using wheeled micro-robots capable of locating themselves and sensing user input, before discussing limitations and opportunities for future work.