1979 – Planetenweg Uetliberg: The Solar System as a Hiking Path

Planetenweg Uetliberg is a 2h hiking path near Zurich in Switzerland. It enables people to experience the sizes and distances between the different main bodies in our solar system. The hike starts at the sun (image above). Following the path, a hiker visits the different main bodies at a scale of 1 : 1 billion (see overview included above), that is, 1 meter on the path corresponds to 1 million kilometers in space. The sun has a diameter of 1.39m. Venus has the size of a pinhead in comparison […]

Planetenweg Uetliberg is a 2h hiking path near Zurich in Switzerland. It enables people to experience the sizes and distances between the different main bodies in our solar system. The hike starts at the sun (image above). Following the path, a hiker visits the different main bodies at a scale of 1 : 1 billion (see overview included above), that is, 1 meter on the path corresponds to 1 million kilometers in space. The sun has a diameter of 1.39m. Venus has the size of a pinhead in comparison (it’s embedded in the rock in small window to the right of the panel). Sources: Wikipedia: Planetenweg Uetliberg [German only]. The images showing the sun and venus were taken by Roland Zh and made available via wikimedia. See here for the sun and here for venus

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Jason Dykes. Category: Physical model Tags: solar system, walkable

2010 – Computer Glitches as 3D Objects

Glitch objects is a series of artworks by Tracy Cornish which transform two-dimensional visual results of computer glitches into three-dimensional objects by mapping properties of a visual glitch into 3D space. The left image shows glitch object 22, the right image shows glitch object 218. Computer glitches are the completely random, unpredictable and unexpected failures of digital systems. They are the result of approximated values and computational compensations for inaccessible information. […]

Glitch objects is a series of artworks by Tracy Cornish which transform two-dimensional visual results of computer glitches into three-dimensional objects by mapping properties of a visual glitch into 3D space. The left image shows glitch object 22, the right image shows glitch object 218. Computer glitches are the completely random, unpredictable and unexpected failures of digital systems. They are the result of approximated values and computational compensations for inaccessible information. Unlike bugs or faulty programming which can be tracked back to errors in code, glitches are fleeting and are often the result of untraceable truncated data streams or rounded values. “Artifacts” in digital media refer to an undesired alteration in data introduced through a digital process of representation. Within broader culture, artifacts are precious objects made or given shape by human beings. Glitch Objects explore this semantic relationship through a series of rapid prototype sculptures. Using source glitches as found objects of digital culture, Glitch Objects were generated by mapping 2-dimensional malfunctions into 3-dimensional forms. These artifacts shift digital information into the physical realm - turning digital rubbish into delicate art objects. Glitch Objects are part of an ongoing research inquiry that explores the potential for glitches to be employed as an entry point into the critique of post-digital culture. Source: Tracy Cornish, Glitch Objects.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Todd Margolis. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, data sculpture

2011 – Manually Animated Graph of Scientific Data

Philadelphia-based multi-discipline artist Bradley Litwin built this physical chart that can be animated by turning a crank. It is the only manually-animated physical visualization we know of so far. It was commissionned by a pharmaceutical company, intended as an educational device for distributing to doctors. Bradley was kind enough to send us an image of the insides of the original prototype, "not quite as pretty as the final product", he says. His explanation: As the crank is turned, a […]

Philadelphia-based multi-discipline artist Bradley Litwin built this physical chart that can be animated by turning a crank. It is the only manually-animated physical visualization we know of so far. It was commissionned by a pharmaceutical company, intended as an educational device for distributing to doctors. Bradley was kind enough to send us an image of the insides of the original prototype, "not quite as pretty as the final product", he says. His explanation: As the crank is turned, a series of radial cams is driven around, each with a profile, derived from the data points along four different indices. The cams actuate cam-followers, which extend to indicators on the corresponding linear, Y axis of the display. The position of the cams is also geared to an elapsed time display, which is the X axis of the graph. Source: Bradley Litwin. Related: If you like cams, also see our entry on ballistic cams from the 1950s.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen & Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: animation, mechanical interaction, science

2013 – Walkable Age Pyramid

A walkable age pyramid of the German population. It was part of an exhibition on demographics by Atelier Brückner. The sculpture gives an impression how the distribution of age groups shifted between 1950 and 2010. For example, it shows how two world wars took out certain age groups and the lasting effect of the "Pillenknick" (the drop of birth rates due to the wide availability of "the pill"). Sources: Left photo: front view (time goes from the front to the back) picture taken by Michael […]

A walkable age pyramid of the German population. It was part of an exhibition on demographics by Atelier Brückner. The sculpture gives an impression how the distribution of age groups shifted between 1950 and 2010. For example, it shows how two world wars took out certain age groups and the lasting effect of the "Pillenknick" (the drop of birth rates due to the wide availability of "the pill"). Sources: Left photo: front view (time goes from the front to the back) picture taken by Michael Jungblut, part of the press release package. Right photo: rear view, picture from Marius Watz' flickr stream.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: age pyramid, data sculpture, demographics, walkable

2014 – x.pose: a Wearable Dynamic Data Sculpture

x.pose is a dynamic wearable data sculpture that makes the collection of the wearer's location data visible in real-time in the physical world. From the project webpage: x.pose is a wearable data-driven sculpture that exposes a person's skin as a real-time reflection of the data that the wearer is producing. In the physical realm we can deliberately control which portions our bodies are exposed to the world by covering it with clothing. In the digital realm, we have much less control of what […]

x.pose is a dynamic wearable data sculpture that makes the collection of the wearer's location data visible in real-time in the physical world. From the project webpage: x.pose is a wearable data-driven sculpture that exposes a person's skin as a real-time reflection of the data that the wearer is producing. In the physical realm we can deliberately control which portions our bodies are exposed to the world by covering it with clothing. In the digital realm, we have much less control of what personal aspects we share with the services that connect us. In the digital realm we are naked and vulnerable. How it was created and how it works: The first step was to build a mobile app and server to automatically collect my data over time. Done using Node.js and PhoneGap. Second: the recorded data set was used as the basis for the generative aspects of the personalized wearable couture. The output is an abstract 3D mesh armature of my location data points collected over about a month. The dataset was fed into processing to produce the pattern and exported to Rhino to make the 3D mesh. Lastly, the mobile app and server is used to provide real-time data transmission through bluetooth to an Arduino, which controls reactive displays that change in opacity to reveal the wearer’s skin. This occurs in proportion to the volume of information that is passively generated. Source: x.pose is a thesis project for the ITP program at the Tisch School of the Arts, NYU, by Xuedi Chen in collaboration with Pedro G. C. Oliveira.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen. Category: Active physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, data clothing, data sculpture, location data, real-time, wearable

2014 – TiltWatch: Physical Tilt Indicator For Shipping Goods

This ShockWatch tilt indicator can be attached to packages which must remain upright during transportation. If the packet is tilted to either side, the little balls move into the next chamber. The recipient can then later check the degree of tilting the packet experienced during transportation. The upper row indicates tilting to the left, the lower to the right. The ball in the round indicator moves in to the outer torus when the packet is turned over 180°. Source: ShockWatch, TiltWatch Plus […]

This ShockWatch tilt indicator can be attached to packages which must remain upright during transportation. If the packet is tilted to either side, the little balls move into the next chamber. The recipient can then later check the degree of tilting the packet experienced during transportation. The upper row indicates tilting to the left, the lower to the right. The ball in the round indicator moves in to the outer torus when the packet is turned over 180°. Source: ShockWatch, TiltWatch Plus (company website)

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Maarten Lambrechts. Category: Measuring instrument Tags: tilt indicator

2016 – Actuated Prism Map of Italy

This actuated prism map was created by Alessandro Masserdotti in the OpenDot Fablab in Milan, Italy, for the SOD16 meeting and invites people explicitly to Touch That Data. OpenDot Fablab (Milan) project with Arduino and 3D printing visualizes regional statistics changing the height of each region. In the picture there's the building count from the regional extracts. Sources: Open streetmap wiki, 2016. Video from a demo at OSMIT 2016.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Jason Dykes. Category: Active physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, cartographic, digital fabrication, prism map

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. Sources: Tweet by Bill Gates, 24/02/2018. Direct acces to the video via youtube (posted by Bill Gates, 13/02/2018) Related: 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.

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

2021 – State of the World as Population Pyramids

The collection "State of the World" is composed of population pyramids and was created by Mathieu Lehanneur for the 2021 exhibition art basel - design miami. Each of the 100 sculptures encodes the population data of one country: age is encoded in rings from birth at the bottom to 100 years at the top; the width of each ring encodes the proportion of the population being of that age. each age pyramid reveals the particularities of a nation — the youth of chad, translated by the geometric […]

The collection "State of the World" is composed of population pyramids and was created by Mathieu Lehanneur for the 2021 exhibition art basel - design miami. Each of the 100 sculptures encodes the population data of one country: age is encoded in rings from birth at the bottom to 100 years at the top; the width of each ring encodes the proportion of the population being of that age. each age pyramid reveals the particularities of a nation — the youth of chad, translated by the geometric perfection of its flared base that consistently slims all the way to the top or, conversely, the immigrant population of adults in the united arab emirates, which forms a prominent bump for the age range from 20 to 40 years resting on top of a fine base of emirati births. passing from one work to another proves to be a fascinating journey through time and history. the notches left by the war in cambodia or the second world war in many european countries act as evidence that evoke the immediate empathy of the visitor, who is suddenly part of a greater whole: a living, moving, global body. Source: designboom. mathieu lehanneur renders the earth's shifting populations into sculptural objects. 2021 Related: Also see our other entries about age pyramids.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Loren Madsen. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: age pyramid, data sculpture, demographics, small multiple

2022 – Edo: A Participatory Physicalization of Food Impact

Edo is a participatory data physicalization meant to enable a small community to track the carbon impact of their dietary choices. Each type of food item is represented as a token, a disk, whose surface area encodes the carbon impact of a typical portion of that type of food (data source: Agribalyse). After a meal, one can add data by selecting tokens for all the types of food one just consumed. For example, a burger with fries would require a beef token, a bread token, a salad token, and a […]

Edo is a participatory data physicalization meant to enable a small community to track the carbon impact of their dietary choices. Each type of food item is represented as a token, a disk, whose surface area encodes the carbon impact of a typical portion of that type of food (data source: Agribalyse). After a meal, one can add data by selecting tokens for all the types of food one just consumed. For example, a burger with fries would require a beef token, a bread token, a salad token, and a potato token. All tokens are then added to the board which can have different layouts. The first image shows a grouping by day, where each column shows the impact of food consumed by the people who contributed data that day. The second image shows a grouping by person, where each circle belongs to one person and illustrates the total carbon budget per person for 5 days if one was aiming to remain within a 2t yearly budget. This project was presented as a pictorial at the ACM TEI 2023 conference. A video of the presentation given by Kim Sauvé is available on Vimeo. Sources: The ACM TEI pictorial: Kim Sauvé, Pierre Dragicevic, and Yvonne Jansen. 2023. Edo: A Participatory Data Physicalization on the Climate Impact of Dietary Choices. In Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI ‘23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 35, 1–13. (https://doi.org/10.1145/3569009.3572807) Fabrication instructions and data are available under CC-BY 4.0 on OSF.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: participatory, carbon impact, sustainability, wood