1871 – Thermodynamic Surfaces

A physical visualization by Scottish physicist James Maxwell (left), constructed over the course of about seven months, from November 1874 to July 1875, based on the descriptions of thermodynamics surfaces described in two 1873 papers by American engineer Willard Gibbs. The molded shape depicts the geometry of the three-dimensional thermodynamic surface of the various states of existence of water: solid, liquid, orgas, shown on Cartesian coordinates of the entropy (x), volume (y), and energy […]

A physical visualization by Scottish physicist James Maxwell (left), constructed over the course of about seven months, from November 1874 to July 1875, based on the descriptions of thermodynamics surfaces described in two 1873 papers by American engineer Willard Gibbs. The molded shape depicts the geometry of the three-dimensional thermodynamic surface of the various states of existence of water: solid, liquid, orgas, shown on Cartesian coordinates of the entropy (x), volume (y), and energy (z) of the body. Maxwell constructed it in Cambridge and famously sent it to Gibbs in 1875 as a gift of appreciation for his graphical work. Similarly, James Thomson constructed a plaster pressure-volume-temperature plot (right) in 1871, based on data for carbon dioxide collected by Thomas Andrews. Source: Hmolpedia. Maxwell’s Thermodynamic Surface.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Fanny Chevalier. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: clay, Maxwell, science, thermodynamics, Thompson

2004 – Cylinder: Early Sound Sculpture

Cylinder by Andy Huntington and Drew Allan may be one of the first digitally-fabricated sound sculptures. Source: http://extraversion.co.uk/2003/cylinder/ Related: Also see our entry 2007 - Explosion of sound sculptures.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Fanny Chevalier. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, digital fabrication, sound, sound sculpture, temporal data

2007 – Explosion of Sound Sculptures

In 2007-2008, sound became an endless source of inspiration for data sculptors. Examples include (images from left to right): Binaural by Daniel Widrig & Shajay Bhooshan (2007) Sound/Chair by Plummer Fernandez (2008) Sound Memory by Marius Watz (2008) Reflection by Andreas Nicolas Fischer & Benjamin Maus (2008) I Will Never Change by Us by Benga (2012) Microsonic Landscapes by Juan Manuel de J. Escalante (2012) The Shape of the Sound of the Shape of the Sound by Stephen Barrass (2012) […]

In 2007-2008, sound became an endless source of inspiration for data sculptors. Examples include (images from left to right): Binaural by Daniel Widrig & Shajay Bhooshan (2007) Sound/Chair by Plummer Fernandez (2008) Sound Memory by Marius Watz (2008) Reflection by Andreas Nicolas Fischer & Benjamin Maus (2008) I Will Never Change by Us by Benga (2012) Microsonic Landscapes by Juan Manuel de J. Escalante (2012) The Shape of the Sound of the Shape of the Sound by Stephen Barrass (2012) Spectral Density Estimation by Andreas Nicolas Fischer (2013) Nightingale Bird Song by Yanying Huang (2014)

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic & Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Fanny Chevalier & Benjamin Bach. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: art, data sculpture, sound, sound sculpture, temporal data

2009 – Distribution Plushies

A commercial offer for a set of 10 plush distributions. Although not formally physical visualizations, they could in principle encode actual data. Source: web shop

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Fanny Chevalier & Jean-Daniel Fekete. Category: Physical model Tags: Plushies, statistics

2010 – Analog Stepless Gear Indicator

Some e-bikes with stepless shifting gear are equipped with a cute analog indicator. From the user manual: Controlling the ratio of the N360 is simply a matter of rotating the shifter grip. The shifter display indicates ratio as a simple graphic; a hill for slower speeds and a flat for faster speeds. Since there are no fixed gears, the exact ratio is determined by your comfort level. This indicator was introduced by the US-based NuVinci company in 2010. In 2018, the company was rebranded to […]

Some e-bikes with stepless shifting gear are equipped with a cute analog indicator. From the user manual: Controlling the ratio of the N360 is simply a matter of rotating the shifter grip. The shifter display indicates ratio as a simple graphic; a hill for slower speeds and a flat for faster speeds. Since there are no fixed gears, the exact ratio is determined by your comfort level. This indicator was introduced by the US-based NuVinci company in 2010. In 2018, the company was rebranded to Enviolo as part of a bankruptcy restructuring. Sources: Wikipedia, NuVinci continuously variable transmission NuVinci (2010) NuVinci N360’s Owner Manual (archived version). This manual shows that the 2010 model already had the analog display. The previous model from 2007 (N171 owner’s manual, archived version) did not. Photo from Anonymous (2014), Test Ride: 2014 Novara Gotham. Video from the FoldingBike YouTube channel.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Fanny Chevalier. Category: Measuring instrument Tags: bike, gear

2010 – eCLOUD & airFIELD: Ambient Airport Visualizations

Left image: eCLOUD is an airport installation at the San Jose International Airport created by Dan Goods, Nik Hafermaas, and Aaron Koblin. It is made of many large LCD pixels laid out in 3D space whose opacity change as a function of weather. Right image: A similar installation called airFIELD was created by the same team two years later. It shows air traffic and is installed at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Sources: eCloud project (2010) airFIELD sculpture (2012) […]

Left image: eCLOUD is an airport installation at the San Jose International Airport created by Dan Goods, Nik Hafermaas, and Aaron Koblin. It is made of many large LCD pixels laid out in 3D space whose opacity change as a function of weather. Right image: A similar installation called airFIELD was created by the same team two years later. It shows air traffic and is installed at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Sources: eCloud project (2010) airFIELD sculpture (2012) Related: For other examples of non-regular or 3D layouts of physical pixels, also see Brygg Ullmer's Strata/ICC system (2010), Rémi Brun's kinematic LED sculptures (2012), and LED cubes.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Fanny Chevalier. Category: Active physical visualization Tags: air traffic, hybrid, weather

2012 – A Soft and Transparent Handleable Protein Model

This report demonstrates the viability of a new handleable protein molecular model with a soft and transparent silicone body similar to the molecule’s surface. A full-color printed main chain structure embedded in the silicone body enables users to simultaneously feel the molecular surface, view through the main chain structure, and manually simulate molecular docking. The interactive, hands-on experience deepens the user’s intuitive understanding of the complicated 3D protein structure and […]

This report demonstrates the viability of a new handleable protein molecular model with a soft and transparent silicone body similar to the molecule’s surface. A full-color printed main chain structure embedded in the silicone body enables users to simultaneously feel the molecular surface, view through the main chain structure, and manually simulate molecular docking. The interactive, hands-on experience deepens the user’s intuitive understanding of the complicated 3D protein structure and elucidates ligand binding and protein–protein interactions. Sources: Masaru Kawakamia (2012) A soft and transparent handleable protein model. TCT Magazine (2012) Transparent, handleable 3D printed molecular models. Left photo by Masaru Kawakami, published by TCT Magazine. Related: Also see our entry 2004 – Scripps’ Molecule Models or all our entries on chemistry.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Fanny Chevalier. Category: Enabling technology Tags: 3d printing, chemistry, proteine model

2012 – Grand Old Party: Political Satire

American designer Matthew Epler shows how to build physical visualizations out of silicone using 3D printing and mold casting. He also shows how to use them to make political statements. Source: Matthew Epler (2012) Grand Old Party (video here).

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Fanny Chevalier. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, adult toy, digital fabrication, extruded 2d, moulding, opinion polls, politics, satire, silicone

2012 – Emoto: Projection Augmented Heatmaps of Twitter Data

The core of the installation is a physical data sculpture consisting of 17 objects, each representing all Tweets we have collected during one day of the Olympics. Mapped onto this physical sculpture we have then projected individual heat maps for the most interesting themes we have identified while observing emoto during the Games. Users were able to navigate through these themes using an interactive controller and thus explore our archive. Source: Moritz Stefaner, Drew Hemment […]

The core of the installation is a physical data sculpture consisting of 17 objects, each representing all Tweets we have collected during one day of the Olympics. Mapped onto this physical sculpture we have then projected individual heat maps for the most interesting themes we have identified while observing emoto during the Games. Users were able to navigate through these themes using an interactive controller and thus explore our archive. Source: Moritz Stefaner, Drew Hemment & Studio NAND. Emoto.

Added by: Yvonne Jansen, sent by: Fanny Chevalier & Romain Vuillemot. Category: Active physical visualization Tags: data sculpture, heatmap, online data

2015 – Touching Air: Necklace Shows Air Pollution

This necklace made by Stefanie Posavec and Miriam Quick shows one week of air quality data measured in the city of Sheffield. Each segment is a period of 6 hours, and its appearance conveys the concentration of particulate matter during that period of time. A low concentration yields a small, round, green segment. A high concentration yields a large, spiky, red segment. Sources: Stefanie Posavec (2015) Air Transformed: Better with Data Society Commission. Photos by Stefanie Posavec. Related: […]

This necklace made by Stefanie Posavec and Miriam Quick shows one week of air quality data measured in the city of Sheffield. Each segment is a period of 6 hours, and its appearance conveys the concentration of particulate matter during that period of time. A low concentration yields a small, round, green segment. A high concentration yields a large, spiky, red segment. Sources: Stefanie Posavec (2015) Air Transformed: Better with Data Society Commission. Photos by Stefanie Posavec. Related: Also see our entry 2014 - Data Clothing: Dresses Show Air Pollution.

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Maarten Lambrechts & Fanny Chevalier. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: air pollution, air quality, data jewellery, data sculpture, digital fabrication