1957 – Proteine Visualizations

Left image: The very first physical model of a protein (myoglobin) built by crystallographer John Kendrew in 1957 using plasticine. The image is from a 1958 Nature article, for a more recent photo see here. In 1960 Kendrew completed a higher-resolution skeletal model known as the "forest of rods". The model was 2-meter wide, made of brass, and supported with 2,500 vertical rods, making it barely legible. Colored clips were attached to the rods to visualize electron density. See photos here and […]

Left image: The very first physical model of a protein (myoglobin) built by crystallographer John Kendrew in 1957 using plasticine. The image is from a 1958 Nature article, for a more recent photo see here. In 1960 Kendrew completed a higher-resolution skeletal model known as the "forest of rods". The model was 2-meter wide, made of brass, and supported with 2,500 vertical rods, making it barely legible. Colored clips were attached to the rods to visualize electron density. See photos here and here. Middle image: Biochemist Max Perutz working on a model of hemoglobin similar to the "forest of rods", completed in 1968. Hemoglobin is made of 10,000 atoms. Perutz and Kendrew shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for working out the structure of those giant molecules. Right image: A visualization device built by biochemist Fred Richards in 1968 and known as the "optical comparator", the "Richards Box" or "Fred's Folly". This device taller than a person used a half-silvered mirror to optically combine a wireframe physical protein model with electron density maps. Sources: Eric Martz and Eric Francoeur (1997-2004) History of Visualization of Biological Macromolecules. Michael L. Connolly (1996) Molecular Surfaces: A Review Jeremy Norman's History of Science.com Online Bookshop Emily Candela (2012) Assembling an aesthetic. Protopedia entry on Frederic Richards Video interview wit Max Perutz (see 14:20 to see one of the physical models and hear him talk about how physical models affected the way he looked at his work).

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: chemistry, hemoglobin, Perutz, proteine, science

2002 – Bathsheba Grossman's Crystal Engravings

Artist Bathsheba Grossman has been 3D printing mathematical surfaces as early as 1997. In 2002 she started to use subsurface laser engraving to produce 3D physical visualizations of data from astronomy, biology, and physics. Left image: a piece of DNA molecule. Right image: a 3D map of our nearby stars. The artist explains to us: This medium excels at imaging less structural data such as disconnected volumes, non-compact point clouds, and the convoluted strands of proteins. It works by […]

Artist Bathsheba Grossman has been 3D printing mathematical surfaces as early as 1997. In 2002 she started to use subsurface laser engraving to produce 3D physical visualizations of data from astronomy, biology, and physics. Left image: a piece of DNA molecule. Right image: a 3D map of our nearby stars. The artist explains to us: This medium excels at imaging less structural data such as disconnected volumes, non-compact point clouds, and the convoluted strands of proteins. It works by projecting intersecting Nd:YAG laser beams into clear glass, concentrating enough energy at the intersection to create a microfracture that is precisely located within the glass. The laser is then pulsed and moved; a typical image might contain from 100,000 to several million marks. The art of the medium is in regulating position and density of the marks so that bright lines and points are produced, as well as surfaces of varying translucency, without concentrating marks so closely as to over stress the glass and produce larger fractures. Sources: http://www.bathsheba.com (2002 version). http://crystalprotein.com

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic & Bathsheba Grossman. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, astronomy, biology, digital fabrication, mathematics, physics, science, subsurface laser engraving, glass

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

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

2009 – Centograph: Dynamic Bar Charts Show Keyword Popularity

Ten actuated bar charts that show the popularity of keywords of interest in news articles over time, made by the company Tinker from London. A separate search interface is provided on a regular desktop computer and sends queries to the Google News Archive. It is permanently installed in the St Paul's School for Boys Computing Department in London. Sources: infosthetics Tinker London

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Active physical visualization Tags: bar charts, news, temporal data

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 – Meshu.io: Data Jewellery you can Order Online

A company lets you enter in cities you've been to and generates a physical mesh to order as a necklace, earrings, or cufflinks. Source: http://meshu.io/

Added by: Pierre Dragicevic, sent by: Moritz Stefaner. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: data jewellery, personal data, remote fabrication, trips

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