5500 BC – Mesopotamian Clay Tokens

The earliest data visualizations were likely physical: built by arranging stones or pebbles, and later, clay tokens. According to an eminent archaeologist (Schmandt-Besserat, 1999): "Whereas words consist of immaterial sounds, the tokens were concrete, solid, tangible artifacts, which could be handled, arranged and rearranged at will. For instance, the tokens could be ordered in special columns according to types of merchandise, entries and expenditures; donors or recipients. The token system […]

The earliest data visualizations were likely physical: built by arranging stones or pebbles, and later, clay tokens. According to an eminent archaeologist (Schmandt-Besserat, 1999): "Whereas words consist of immaterial sounds, the tokens were concrete, solid, tangible artifacts, which could be handled, arranged and rearranged at will. For instance, the tokens could be ordered in special columns according to types of merchandise, entries and expenditures; donors or recipients. The token system thus encouraged manipulating data by abstracting all possible variables. (Harth 1983. 19) [...] No doubt patterning, the presentation of data in a particular configuration, was developed to highlight special items (Luria 1976. 20). " Clay tokens suggest that physical objects were used to externalize information, support visual thinking and enhance cognition way before paper and writing were invented. Sources: Denise Schmandt-Besserat (1999) Tokens: The Cognitive Significance. Denise Schmandt-Besserat (1996) How Writing Came About. Image taken from en.finaly.org (photo Denise Schmandt-Besserat)

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: anthropology, archaeology, clay, mesopotamians, rearrangeable

1820 – Papier-Mâché Anatomical Models

Left image: As part of its 2014 exhibition entitled Mind Maps: Stories from Psychology, the London Science Museum showcased this very accurate and intricate papier-mâché brain model from 1900 that shows path of nerve fibers. French physician Louis Thomas Jerôme Auzoux developed this technique around 1820 due to the shortage of human cadavers and wax models to study human anatomy. He was inspired by papier-mâché dolls that were common at the time. His models became popular in schools, […]

Left image: As part of its 2014 exhibition entitled Mind Maps: Stories from Psychology, the London Science Museum showcased this very accurate and intricate papier-mâché brain model from 1900 that shows path of nerve fibers. French physician Louis Thomas Jerôme Auzoux developed this technique around 1820 due to the shortage of human cadavers and wax models to study human anatomy. He was inspired by papier-mâché dolls that were common at the time. His models became popular in schools, universities and hospitals, and many of them could be taken apart for educational purposes (right image). Sources: Tweet from the London Science Museum (2014). Also see their exhibition page (now closed). Discover Magazine. Papier-Mâché Brain (1801-1850). Wikipedia page on Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux. Céline Poirier's pinterest page on Auzoux. Regis Olry. Wax, Wooden, Ivory, Cardboard, Bronze, Fabric, Plaster, Rubber and Plastic Anatomical Models: Praiseworthy Precursors of Plastinated Specimens. J Int Soc Plastination Vol 15, No 1: 30-35, 2000. Danica Marković and Bojana Marković. Development of Anatomical Models – Chronology. Acta Medica Medianae 2010, Vol.49(2).

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Tobias Isenberg. Category: Physical model Tags: anatomy, hand-made, model, papier-mâché, rearrangeable, science

1901 – Davenport's Physical Distributions

In 1901, biologist Charles Davenport "built" physical visualizations that show the distributions of features of objects and people. These visualizations were made out of the objects and the people themselves. The purpose was to explain the notion of statistical distribution to a lay audience. On the left image, seashells are piled up according to how many ribs they have. On the middle image, students are arranged in bins according to their height. On the right image, they are simply sorted. […]

In 1901, biologist Charles Davenport "built" physical visualizations that show the distributions of features of objects and people. These visualizations were made out of the objects and the people themselves. The purpose was to explain the notion of statistical distribution to a lay audience. On the left image, seashells are piled up according to how many ribs they have. On the middle image, students are arranged in bins according to their height. On the right image, they are simply sorted. Charles Davenport's research on eugenics may be controversial. Nevertheless, his explanation of statistical distributions has a clear pedagogical value. His examples also show that spatial arrangement is a key feature of data visualizations, and that a good spatial arrangement can augment cognition even without the use of abstract mappings and encodings. Source: Davenport (1901) The Statistical Study of Evolution.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: distribution, education, participatory, people, rearrangeable, rearrangement

1926 – Karsten's Tridimensional Chart

American economist and statistician Karl G. Karsten patented a method for creating physical visualizations of temporal data by stacking two-dimensional plates, each representing a time period. Each of the plates shown above is a variable-width column chart representing the state of the stock market at the end of a particular month. Each bar is a type of stock, where the height of the bar encodes the stock price and its width encodes volumes of sales. Each month, a new layer is added. Seen from […]

American economist and statistician Karl G. Karsten patented a method for creating physical visualizations of temporal data by stacking two-dimensional plates, each representing a time period. Each of the plates shown above is a variable-width column chart representing the state of the stock market at the end of a particular month. Each bar is a type of stock, where the height of the bar encodes the stock price and its width encodes volumes of sales. Each month, a new layer is added. Seen from above, this 3D visualization becomes a 2D stacked bar chart showing volumes of sales across time. Karl G. Karsten wrote a book entitled Charts And Graphs in 1925, where he discusses physical visualizations used in engineering. Many of these were previously discussed in John Peddle's 1910 book The construction of graphical charts and Willard Cope Brinton's 1914 book Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts. Also see our entries 1935 – 3D Visualizations of Power Consumption and 1951 – Electricity Generated or Demanded. Source: Karl G. Karsten (1926) Tridimensional Chart. US Patent.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: RJ Andrews. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: rearrangeable, stock market, temporal data

1968 – Jacques Bertin's Reorderable Matrices

The reorderable matrix is a physical device developed in the mid 1960s by French cartographer Jacques Bertin for exploring and presenting tabular data. Bertin designed several reorderable physical matrices he called Dominos, each with a different size and visual encoding. The first three images above show a small, medium, and large version. A rod mechanism allowed unlocking either rows or columns for reordering. The dominos were part of a general method of “graphic information processing”, […]

The reorderable matrix is a physical device developed in the mid 1960s by French cartographer Jacques Bertin for exploring and presenting tabular data. Bertin designed several reorderable physical matrices he called Dominos, each with a different size and visual encoding. The first three images above show a small, medium, and large version. A rod mechanism allowed unlocking either rows or columns for reordering. The dominos were part of a general method of “graphic information processing”, extensively described by Bertin in a relatively poorly-known 1977 book. This method stems from his progressive realization that, while maps and charts are traditionally drawn once for all, “mobile images” can be freely manipulated to reveal patterns. Thus he recognized the importance of interactivity three decades before information visualization. Bertin physically implemented five types of “interactive” visualizations: the family of curves (line charts on transparent paper sheets that can be superimposed) the image file (stacked cards with a visual index) the collection of maps (rearrangeable small multiples) the collection of ordered tables (rearrangeable paper tables), and finally the reorderable matrix. For Bertin, the reorderable matrix was by far the most powerful tool. His method required that numerical data be collected on a paper table to start with. Then, values were converted into discrete steps, again on a paper table (7 to 11 different steps depending on the Domino version). Then, the physical matrix was assembled by choosing among a collection of physical cells that encode different ranges of values. Afterwards, the matrix was reordered to reveal patterns, which could take a long time. Finally, meaningful groups were identified and named. The result was then photographied or photocopied, and the final image was used as a figure in the scientific publication, enriched with a legend and caption. The first video (fourth image above) shows a reorderable matrix being used. The second video is an educational video explaing the method to a large audience (English subtitles are available). Bertin's method of data analysis, while time-consuming, remained popular for a while and underwent several computer adaptations. Sources: Jacques Bertin (1969) Graphique et mathématique : généralisation du traitement graphique de l'information. Jacques Bertin (1977) La graphique et le traitement graphique de l'information. Jacques Bertin (1981 translation). Graphics and Graphic Information Processing. Charles Perin, Pierre Dragicevic, and Jean-Daniel Fekete (2014) Revisiting Bertin Matrices: New Interactions for Crafting Tabular Visualizations. Serge Bonin (1998) Le développement de la graphique de 1967 à 1997. Gilles Palsky (2003) L'esprit des cartes, pp. 99-100. The first photo was taken during Jacques Bertin's 2005 interview by Jean-Daniel Fekete, Nathalie Henry and Jean-Baptiste Labrune. The second photo is from Archives Nationales. The third photo is from Bertin's book "la Graphique et le traitement graphique de l'information", captured from these slides by Torsten Möller. The two videos are 8-mm movies borrowed from the Archives Nationales and digitized by us. You can find photos of Jacques Bertin showing one of his matrices in the flickr photo set by Jean-Baptiste Labrune. Also see Jean-Daniel Fekete's interview on Jacques Bertin by Enrico Bertini, our interview by Data Stories where we demo a simplified version of Bertin's matrix made by Innar Liiv, and the Web page of Bertifier which has a comprehensive bibliography on the topic.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: Bertin, rearrangeable, reorderable matrix

1995 – San Diego TeleManufacturing Facility

In 1995, Mike Bailey from the San Diego Supercomputer Center created the SDSC TeleManufacturing Facility to help scientists visualize their data in physical form. In 1997, the facility produced one of the first digitally-fabricated molecular models using laminated object manufacturing. The biochemists involved in the project got insights that they were not able to get from the on-screen 3D models, and concluded that: modern physical models are important tools that significantly extend the […]

In 1995, Mike Bailey from the San Diego Supercomputer Center created the SDSC TeleManufacturing Facility to help scientists visualize their data in physical form. In 1997, the facility produced one of the first digitally-fabricated molecular models using laminated object manufacturing. The biochemists involved in the project got insights that they were not able to get from the on-screen 3D models, and concluded that: modern physical models are important tools that significantly extend the understanding of protein assembly available from modern three-dimensional computer graphical analysis. Later, the TeleManufacturing Facility moved to Oregon State University, still under the direction of Mike Bailey. It was renamed the Center for Visualization Prototypes, then the Center for 3D Hardcopy. It now employs a ZCorp Z406 3D printer. The center has fabricated more than 1,000 physical models, helping scientists from many different disciplines visualize their data. Images from left to right: molecular docking, ripple model, waterless globe with exaggerated relief, human head, different mathematical curvatures on identical surface shapes. Sources: Bailey et al (1998). The use of solid physical models for the study of macromolecular assembly. Kathy A. Svitil (1998). A Touch of Science. Bailey (2005). Layered manufacturing for scientific visualization. (free author version) Bailey (2005). Center for 3D Hardcopy.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, chemistry, digital fabrication, laminated object manufacturing, rearrangeable, science, scientific visualization

2004 – Scripps' Molecule Models

Since 2004 the Molecular Graphics Laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute has been making heavy use of 3D-printed full-color physical molecule models, some of which are articulated (left image), flexible (middle image), and even self-assembling (right image, see video). They also publish augmented reality systems that use those physical models. Also see our entry 1995 – SDSC TeleManufacturing Facility. Sources: Web Page: http://mgl.scripps.edu/projects/tangible_models Tommy Toy (2011) How […]

Since 2004 the Molecular Graphics Laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute has been making heavy use of 3D-printed full-color physical molecule models, some of which are articulated (left image), flexible (middle image), and even self-assembling (right image, see video). They also publish augmented reality systems that use those physical models. Also see our entry 1995 – SDSC TeleManufacturing Facility. Sources: Web Page: http://mgl.scripps.edu/projects/tangible_models Tommy Toy (2011) How Arthur Olson's Molecular Graphics Lab at Scripps is Using 3D Printing and Augmented Reality to Design Better Drugs. Alexandre Gillet et al (2004) Computer-Linked Autofabricated 3D Models For Teaching Structural Biology.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, chemistry, digital fabrication, molecules, physical computation, rearrangeable, science, self-assembling

2005 – Tactile Rubik’s Cubes

An online article compares several different designs for tactile Rubik's Cubes created between 2005 and 2010. Left image: different objects on the outside of the cube give each side a different feel. Right image: laser-cut shapes. Source: Smithsonian magazine.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Fanny Chevalier. Category: Other Tags: laser-cut, rearrangeable, tactile

2008 – Bug Tracking with LEGO Bricks

Takeshi Kakeda explains how to use LEGO bricks for bug tracking. Source: Takeshi Kakeda (2008) Tangible Bug Tracking using LEGO bricks. Agile 2008 conference.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: bug tracking, LEGO, manual update, rearrangeable

2008 – Activity Logging with LEGO Bricks

A visualization and logging method for personal work activity. Every tower is a day of the week. A layer is one working hour, horizontally subdivided in four quarters of an hour. Different colors are different projects. The constant availability of this interface makes it easier to log personal activity data on-the-fly, before entering it in a PIM software (an automatic method involving computer vision is being considered). Source: Michael Hunger (2008) On LEGO Powered Time-Tracking. Blog post. […]

A visualization and logging method for personal work activity. Every tower is a day of the week. A layer is one working hour, horizontally subdivided in four quarters of an hour. Different colors are different projects. The constant availability of this interface makes it easier to log personal activity data on-the-fly, before entering it in a PIM software (an automatic method involving computer vision is being considered). Source: Michael Hunger (2008) On LEGO Powered Time-Tracking. Blog post.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: dynamic, LEGO, manual update, rearrangeable, self-logging, temporal data, time management

2008 – Rearrangeable Wooden Model of Brain Scan

A selection of MRI data glued on 60 wooden blocks which allow to physically dig into cross sections, by Neil Fraser. More details on infosthetics. Source: infosthetics.com.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: brain, dynamic, rearrangeable, science

2008 – Kids Reconstruct Harry Potter's Social Network

At the 2008 science fair (fête de la science), the Aviz group had kids build physical node-link diagrams of Harry Potter's social network using magnets and rubber bands. Source: Aviz. http://www.aviz.fr/old/fetedelascience08/

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: education, hand-built, network, participatory, rearrangeable

2010 – Hans Rosling Adopts Physical Visualizations

Hans Rosling is famous worldwide for his fascinating speeches about population growth and income inequalities, notably his 2006 TED Talk where he debunks myths about the third world using animated charts. In 2010 he started to tell stories about data using physical visualizations. He started by stacking Ikea boxes, then switched to a variety familiar objects including pebbles, toy construction kits, fruit juice, snow balls and even toilet paper. Hans' son Ola Rosling is behind the technology […]

Hans Rosling is famous worldwide for his fascinating speeches about population growth and income inequalities, notably his 2006 TED Talk where he debunks myths about the third world using animated charts. In 2010 he started to tell stories about data using physical visualizations. He started by stacking Ikea boxes, then switched to a variety familiar objects including pebbles, toy construction kits, fruit juice, snow balls and even toilet paper. Hans' son Ola Rosling is behind the technology and scenography used in his talks. Both strongly believe in the pedagogical power of physical visualizations. Hans Rosling told us that: physical props reach the mind of a large part of the public because thats how you represent data in daily life at the kitchen table, at the cafe and in the bar. Click on the links below to see the full videos (same order as the images above): Hans Rosling's TED talk (2010) Global population growth, box by box. Via infosthetics. Herbert Reininger (2012) Hans Rosling's shortest TED talk. SVT (2012) Hans Rosling i SVT Agenda (in Swedish). The Guardian (2013) Population growth and climate change explained by Hans Rosling. Hans Rosling (2013) Mariam Claeson, Hans Rosling and René Loewenson at Global Health. BBC Newsnight (2013) Hans Rosling on the consequences of population growth. Wingspan Productions (2013) Don't Panic (at 25 min). Hans Rosling (2014) Will saving poor children lead to overpopulation?. Karolinska Institutet (2014) Bill Gates and Hans Rosling debate the end of extreme poverty (at 29 min). Gapminder Foundation (2014) Hans Rosling's Demographic Party Trick #1. BBC Newsnight (2015) Hans Rosling on global income disparity (and snowballs). Gapminder (2015) How many are rich and how many are poor? Gapminder (2015) Where do people live? Gapminder (2015) The rapid growth of the world population, when will it slow down? Thanks to Fernanda Drumond and Ola Rosling from the Gapminder Foundation for sending us some of the videos.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic & Yvonne Jansen. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: LEGO, rearrangeable, storytelling, TED

2012 – Bit Planner - LEGO calendar

Vitamins studio created The Bit Planner, an elegant wall mounted time and resource planner made entirely of Lego bricks. In this tangible calendar, each gray row represents a month, and each gray rectangle represents a week, and everyone in the group has their own line in the calendar (see left image). Projects are associated to different colors, and each LEGO block corresponds to half a day spent working on a project. While entirely tangible, the Bit Planner can be synched with an online, […]

Vitamins studio created The Bit Planner, an elegant wall mounted time and resource planner made entirely of Lego bricks. In this tangible calendar, each gray row represents a month, and each gray rectangle represents a week, and everyone in the group has their own line in the calendar (see left image). Projects are associated to different colors, and each LEGO block corresponds to half a day spent working on a project. While entirely tangible, the Bit Planner can be synched with an online, digital calendar by taking a photo of the wall mounted display. See the presentation video for more details. More photos can also be found on the Bit Planner website. Source: Bit Planner website.

Added by: Fanny Chevalier. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: calendar, LEGO, rearrangeable, temporal data, time management, wall-mounted

2012 – Rearrangeable 3D Bar Chart

A modular physical visualization like this rearrangeable 3D bar chart allows people to sort, filter, compare and examine data by direct physical manipulation. Sources: Yvonne Jansen and Pierre Dragicevic (2013) An Interaction Model for Visualizations Beyond the Desktop. Also see Yvonne Jansen's PhD dissertation on Physical and Tangible Information Visualization (2014)

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: bar chart, rearrangeable

2012 – Thesis LEGO Board

A design exploration of LEGO-based physical visualizations for project management by educational scientist Daniel K. Schneider. Sources: Daniel K. Schneider (2012) Lego-compatible thesis project board. Edutech Wiki. Daniel K. Schneider (2015) Poster presentation from the EIAH'15 conference (the paper, the actual poster)

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: LEGO, manual update, project management, rearrangeable

2012 – General Motors' 3D LEGO Visualizations

LEGOs help business executives log and explore data. Sources: Mark Wilson (2012) How GM Is Saving Cash Using Legos As A Data Viz Tool. The Daily Drive (2012) GM Plays with Legos (Video).

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Fanny Chevalier. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: industry, interactive, LEGO, manual update, pragmatic visualization, rearrangeable

2013 – Layered 2D Plots

A series of stacked 2D plots showing changes in energy sources for different countries by PhD student Simon Stusak from University of Munich. All plots are cut from acrylic and hold together in one corner to facilitate alignment of the layers. The y-axis is mapped to countries, the x-axis to different energy sources, and the z-axis to time. Sources: Simon Stusak (2013) Physical Visualizations: An Exploration. Simon Stusak, Aurélien Tabard and Andreas Butz (2013) Can Physical Visualizations […]

A series of stacked 2D plots showing changes in energy sources for different countries by PhD student Simon Stusak from University of Munich. All plots are cut from acrylic and hold together in one corner to facilitate alignment of the layers. The y-axis is mapped to countries, the x-axis to different energy sources, and the z-axis to time. Sources: Simon Stusak (2013) Physical Visualizations: An Exploration. Simon Stusak, Aurélien Tabard and Andreas Butz (2013) Can Physical Visualizations Support Analytical Tasks?

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: lasercut, rearrangeable, stacked 2D

2014 – Rearrangeable Display of Ice Data

This 3d data visualization, created by Johannes Jacubasch and Judith Weda, shows sea ice levels from 1979 to 2012. The years are plotted on one axis and the months on the other axis, while the height of the wooden pieces shows the level of sea ice. This data visualization can be opened up at any year or month to view the data from up close. If you break the Y-axis it shows all the data from a particular year. If the X-axis is broken it shows ice levels of a particular month over all the years. […]

This 3d data visualization, created by Johannes Jacubasch and Judith Weda, shows sea ice levels from 1979 to 2012. The years are plotted on one axis and the months on the other axis, while the height of the wooden pieces shows the level of sea ice. This data visualization can be opened up at any year or month to view the data from up close. If you break the Y-axis it shows all the data from a particular year. If the X-axis is broken it shows ice levels of a particular month over all the years. The visualization exists out of 384 separate laser cut pieces of wood mounted on a piece of cloth, which makes it possible to fold or break the visualization to view all the data. Sources: Johannes Jacubasch Judith Weda

Added by: Judith Weda. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: digital fabrication, ice data, laser-cut, rearrangeable, weather, wooden

2014 – Data Storytelling with LEGOs

LEGO blocks are convenient tools to progressively construct a physical visualization while unfolding a story. In the same vein as Hans Rosling's educational stories on data, Brookings fellows use LEGO bricks to explain societal concerns such as how much the U.S. tax system helps shrink the gap between extreme social classes1 and the chances for economic success of Americans born at the bottom of the economic ladder 2. Sources: […]

   LEGO blocks are convenient tools to progressively construct a physical visualization while unfolding a story. In the same vein as Hans Rosling's educational stories on data, Brookings fellows use LEGO bricks to explain societal concerns such as how much the U.S. tax system helps shrink the gap between extreme social classes1 and the chances for economic success of Americans born at the bottom of the economic ladder 2. Sources: How much does the tax code reduce inequality? by David Wessel, April 9, 2015. Is America Dreaming?: Understanding Social Mobility. by Richard Reeves, August 2014.

Added by: Fanny Chevalier. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: LEGO, rearrangeable, storytelling

2014 – DIY Bertin Matrix

This wooden matrix is a large-scale replica of Jacques Bertin's reorderable physical matrices. It shows a subset of the World Value Survey, a series of questionnaires that assess people's moral values across countries and years. This physical visualization is interactive as row and columns can be manipulated, promoting engagement and collaboration. This 18x20 matrix was built by Mathieu Le Goc in the Fablab Digscope with Charles Perin and Romain Di Vozzo, on the occasion of the 25th birthday of […]

This wooden matrix is a large-scale replica of Jacques Bertin's reorderable physical matrices. It shows a subset of the World Value Survey, a series of questionnaires that assess people's moral values across countries and years. This physical visualization is interactive as row and columns can be manipulated, promoting engagement and collaboration. This 18x20 matrix was built by Mathieu Le Goc in the Fablab Digscope with Charles Perin and Romain Di Vozzo, on the occasion of the 25th birthday of the IEEE VIS conference in Paris, France. Follow the link below for more details on the matrix, including photos and videos. Source: Charles Perin & Mathieu Le Goc (2015) DIY Matrix.

Added by: Mathieu Le Goc. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: aviz, Bertin, DIY, laser cutter, participatory, rearrangeable, reorderable matrix, wooden, world values

2014 – Building Visualizations with Tokens

Samuel Huron and his collaborators show how anyone can build their own visualizations by assembling physical tokens. Sources: Samuel Huron, Sheelagh Carpendale, Alice Thudt, Anthony Tang, Michael Mauerer (2014) Constructive Visualization (Web Page) Samuel Huron, Yvonne Jansen and Sheelagh Carpendale (2014) Constructing Visual Representations: Investigating the Use of Tangible Tokens (Web page)

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: authoring, casual visualization, manual update, rearrangeable, tokens, visualization for the masses

2015 – Rearrangeable Physical Map

Andrew Chard, an award-winning graduate student in architecture at Oxford Brookes, created this multi-layered wooden map where layers can be individually pulled out and rearranged. According to the object's legend, this map shows different cities on top of each other so that people can compare their structure. There is not much information available online but Andrew explained to us by e-mail: It was so long ago that I wouldn’t be able to remember the scale or locations I am afraid. Apart from […]

Andrew Chard, an award-winning graduate student in architecture at Oxford Brookes, created this multi-layered wooden map where layers can be individually pulled out and rearranged. According to the object's legend, this map shows different cities on top of each other so that people can compare their structure. There is not much information available online but Andrew explained to us by e-mail: It was so long ago that I wouldn’t be able to remember the scale or locations I am afraid. Apart from the fact that the model was based on Piraeus in Greece. I called it the Rotary model. It was a collection of research undertaken to understand an architectural site, before actually visiting it. Each segment could be rotated to view each piece individually. This segment was used to understand the scale of the site by comparison, by sliding each map, known locations can be compared to the unknown, allowing a simple understanding of its spatial makeup. Sources: Andrew Chard (2015) Year 3/ Semester 1/ Rotary model. Images by Andrew Chard.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Carmen Hull. Category: Physical model Tags: cartographic, laser-cut, rearrangeable

2016 – Cairn: Situated Data Collection and Analysis for Fab Labs

Designed within the community of practice of a French FabLab, Cairn aims at understanding the variety of practices within FabLabs. Cairn explores tangible alternatives to questionnaires and other traditional evaluation techniques, and stresses aesthetic and affective dimensions to create an engaging experience. It invites Fablab visitors to reflect on their practices by materializing their activities using small colored woodentiles. Interacting individually with Cairn, people contribute to […]

Designed within the community of practice of a French FabLab, Cairn aims at understanding the variety of practices within FabLabs. Cairn explores tangible alternatives to questionnaires and other traditional evaluation techniques, and stresses aesthetic and affective dimensions to create an engaging experience. It invites Fablab visitors to reflect on their practices by materializing their activities using small colored woodentiles. Interacting individually with Cairn, people contribute to create a collaborative and meaningful sculpture, upon which they can reflect collectively. Sources: Pauline Gourlet and Thierry Dassé (2017) Cairn: A Tangible Apparatus for Situated Data Collection, Visualization and Analysis. David-Julien Rahmil (2017) Cairn, la table qui permet de manipuler et visualiser des données.

Added by: Pauline Gourlet. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: collecting tool, fab lab, participatory, rearrangeable

2017 – Fabricating Physical Globe Visualizations

Geospatial datasets are too complex to easily visualize and understand on a computer screen. Combining digital fabrication with a discrete global grid system (DGGS) can produce physical models of the Earth for visualizing multiresolution geospatial datasets. This proposed approach includes a mechanism for attaching a set of 3D printed segments to produce a scalable model of the Earth. Two models have been produced that support the attachment of different datasets both in 2D and 3D format. Also […]

Geospatial datasets are too complex to easily visualize and understand on a computer screen. Combining digital fabrication with a discrete global grid system (DGGS) can produce physical models of the Earth for visualizing multiresolution geospatial datasets. This proposed approach includes a mechanism for attaching a set of 3D printed segments to produce a scalable model of the Earth. Two models have been produced that support the attachment of different datasets both in 2D and 3D format. Also see our other entries on globe models and rearrangeable physical visualizations. Source: Hessam Djavaherpour, Ali Mahdavi-Amiri, Faramarz F. Samavati (2017) Physical Visualization of Geospatial Datasets.

Added by: Hessam Djavaherpour. Category: Enabling technology Tags: 3d printing, cartographic, digital fabrication, globe, rearrangeable

2018 – Steven Pinker explains Global Life Expectancy with Physical Line Charts

Bill Gates shared a short video featuring Steven Pinker on his Twitter feed with the comment People today are living longer, healthier, and happier lives than ever before. I asked @sapinker to explain why. At first glance it appears that line charts are digitally overlaid on the video. However, closeups and a light swaying of the graphs when Steven Pinker touches them, as well as the addition of another country towards the end of the video indicate that the graphs visible in this video are […]

Bill Gates shared a short video featuring Steven Pinker on his Twitter feed with the comment People today are living longer, healthier, and happier lives than ever before. I asked @sapinker to explain why. At first glance it appears that line charts are digitally overlaid on the video. However, closeups and a light swaying of the graphs when Steven Pinker touches them, as well as the addition of another country towards the end of the video indicate that the graphs visible in this video are actually physical line graphs. Also see the entry "Hans Rosling Adopts Physical Visualizations (2010)" which includes links to videos of Hans Rosling and Bill Gates using physical visualizations and props to explain data. Sources: Tweet by Bill Gates, 24/02/2018. Direct acces to the video via youtube (posted by Bill Gates, 13/02/2018)

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Cedric Honnet. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: rearrangeable, storytelling