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

2013 – Sonic Sculptures

Sonic Sculptures is a project by Blair Neal for visualizing the FFT data of songs and generating 3D printable files. A custom piece of software takes in real-time audio and generates shapes (spirals/loops/flat planes) that can be exported as files that can be 3D printed as a keepsake that captures the low/mid/high range of sound. Meant to be a physical artifact of someone’s favorite song. Source: Blair Neal (2015) Sonic Sculptures. (archived version) Related: Also see our other entries on […]

Sonic Sculptures is a project by Blair Neal for visualizing the FFT data of songs and generating 3D printable files. A custom piece of software takes in real-time audio and generates shapes (spirals/loops/flat planes) that can be exported as files that can be 3D printed as a keepsake that captures the low/mid/high range of sound. Meant to be a physical artifact of someone’s favorite song. Source: Blair Neal (2015) Sonic Sculptures. (archived version) Related: Also see our other entries on sound sculptures and more generally on sound.

Added by: Blair Neal. Category: Physical model Tags: sound sculpture, sound, 3d printing

2016 – Duo Tornado Vase

This work by the chinese designer Yisha Cai explores meteorological phenomena using digital data, conception and production tools. Especially interested in data visualization, Yisha Cai collected rain data through sensors and an arduino device. The data were then processed to generate a 3D model. The cylindrical clay tornado form was generated by code in a digital platform. It was subsequently printed in porcelain by a 3D ceramics printer. The accompanying glass globe form was shaped as a […]

This work by the chinese designer Yisha Cai explores meteorological phenomena using digital data, conception and production tools. Especially interested in data visualization, Yisha Cai collected rain data through sensors and an arduino device. The data were then processed to generate a 3D model. The cylindrical clay tornado form was generated by code in a digital platform. It was subsequently printed in porcelain by a 3D ceramics printer. The accompanying glass globe form was shaped as a positive form of the (imaginary) void created by the profile of the tornado. The blown glass globe form was produced in a unique 3D printed ceramics mould. Sources: Yisha Cai (2016) DUO TORNADO. (archived version) “La céramique comme expérience”, (2019), Editions du CCE, Laboratoire de recherche de l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’art de Limoges, p. 104-111.

Added by: Datartefact, sent by: Anne-Laure Fréant. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: weather, 3d printing, clay print, glass blowing, glass, ceramics, extruded 2d

2018 – Landscaper: 3D Printing and Assembling of Terrain Models

Landscape models of geospatial regions provide an intuitive mechanism for exploring complex geospatial information. However, the methods currently used to create these scale models require a large amount of resources, which restricts the availability of these models to a limited number of popular public places, such as museums and airports. Landscaper is a system for creating these physical models using an affordable 3D printer in order to make the creation of these models more widely […]

Landscape models of geospatial regions provide an intuitive mechanism for exploring complex geospatial information. However, the methods currently used to create these scale models require a large amount of resources, which restricts the availability of these models to a limited number of popular public places, such as museums and airports. Landscaper is a system for creating these physical models using an affordable 3D printer in order to make the creation of these models more widely accessible. Source: Kamyar Allahverdi, Hessam Djavaherpour, Ali Mahdavi-Amiri, Faramarz F. Samavati (2018) Landscaper: A Modeling System for 3D Printing Scale Models of Landscapes. Related: Also see our other entries on terrain modeling and terrain models.

Added by: Hessam Djavaherpour. Category: Enabling technology Tags: 3d printing, assembly, digital fabrication, terrain model

2019 – Data Beyond Vision: Physicalizing Bookshop Data

[Data Beyond Vision] explores new ways of engaging with a dataset and the arguments and narratives behind it, in order to challenge the dominant paradigms of conventional screen-based data visualization. The project currently comprises: 3D printing a model of library member activity over time from the Shakespeare and Company Project juxtaposing documented activities from two sets of archival materials Folding paper forms of borrowing activity from the Shakespeare and Company Project surfacing […]

[Data Beyond Vision] explores new ways of engaging with a dataset and the arguments and narratives behind it, in order to challenge the dominant paradigms of conventional screen-based data visualization. The project currently comprises: 3D printing a model of library member activity over time from the Shakespeare and Company Project juxtaposing documented activities from two sets of archival materials Folding paper forms of borrowing activity from the Shakespeare and Company Project surfacing the activity of women and and non-famous members Weaving representing intertextuality based on references in Jacques Derrida’s de la Grammatologie from Derrida’s Margins Images from left to right and top to bottom: (1) some of the data physicalizations designed in the course of the project; (2) lollipop chart of Shakespeare and Company membership; (3) unit origami volumetric representation of Shakespeare and Company membership; (4) folded model of Shakespeare and Company lending library membership activities; (5) weaving Derrida’s references. Sources: Koeser, Rebecca Sutton, Gissoo Doroudian, Nick Budak, and Xinyi Li. “Data Beyond Vision.” Startwords, no. 1 (October 2020). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3713670. Koeser, Rebecca Sutton, Nick Budak, Gissoo Doroudian, and Xinyi Li. “Data Beyond Vision,” July 11, 2019. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3261531.

Added by: Rebecca Sutton Koeser & Pierre Dragicevic. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, digital humanities, kirigami, origami, weaving, paper

2019 – Physicalizing Cardiac Blood Flow Data

Blood flow data from cardiac 4D Flow MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) holds much potential for research and diagnosis of flow-related diseases. However, understanding this data is quite challenging – after all, it is a volumetric vector field that changes over time. This paper proposes a novel slice-based physical model as a complementary method for visualizing the flow data. The design of this model respects the conventional method of viewing medical imagery (i.e., in cross-sections) but has […]

Blood flow data from cardiac 4D Flow MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) holds much potential for research and diagnosis of flow-related diseases. However, understanding this data is quite challenging – after all, it is a volumetric vector field that changes over time. This paper proposes a novel slice-based physical model as a complementary method for visualizing the flow data. The design of this model respects the conventional method of viewing medical imagery (i.e., in cross-sections) but has the added advantages of engaging one’s sense of touch. Source: Kathleen Ang, Faramarz F. Samavati, Samin Sabokrohiyeh, Julio Garcia, Mohammed S Elbaz (2019) Physicalizing cardiac blood flow data via 3D printing.

Added by: Hessam Djavaherpour. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: 3d printing, blood flow, digital fabrication, manipulable, medical, MRI, volumetric

2022 – River Meandering Through Time

Zoltán Sylvester is a research scientist in the field of geology and a world-known sedimentologist, stratigrapher, and modeler. He is a co-PI of the Quantitative Clastics Laboratory (QCL) at the University of Texas at Austin in the United States. Zoltán Sylvester works especially on river meandering over time and how to precisely track how a river – that can sometimes erase its own sedimentary deposits – has moved and changed its path over time. The 3D prints Zoltán Sylvester made so far (with […]

Zoltán Sylvester is a research scientist in the field of geology and a world-known sedimentologist, stratigrapher, and modeler. He is a co-PI of the Quantitative Clastics Laboratory (QCL) at the University of Texas at Austin in the United States. Zoltán Sylvester works especially on river meandering over time and how to precisely track how a river – that can sometimes erase its own sedimentary deposits – has moved and changed its path over time. The 3D prints Zoltán Sylvester made so far (with time on the z axis) are from a numerical model, not a specific river. They allow to capture the sedimentary history of the river through time within one object, which is usally very difficult to represent. Source: Anne-Laure Fréant (2022) Interview with geology researcher Zoltán Sylvester: understanding river meandering through time. (archived version) Related: Also see our entry 2004 – Full-Color 3D-Printed Scientific Visualizations.

Added by: Anne-Laure Fréant. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: river, sedimentology, geology, 3d printing

2022 – Physical Map of Arctic Sea Ice

Sea ice is frozen ocean water that is most commonly found near the poles in the Arctic Ocean and Southern ocean around Antarctica. Sea ice plays a critical role in regulating the ocean circulation, thereby influencing the global climate. Abnormal melting of sea ice brought forth by warming temperatures leads to changes in global climate making it important to study the fluctuations in the sea ice extant. Scientists use different methods to study sea ice which include observations and climate […]

Sea ice is frozen ocean water that is most commonly found near the poles in the Arctic Ocean and Southern ocean around Antarctica. Sea ice plays a critical role in regulating the ocean circulation, thereby influencing the global climate. Abnormal melting of sea ice brought forth by warming temperatures leads to changes in global climate making it important to study the fluctuations in the sea ice extant. Scientists use different methods to study sea ice which include observations and climate models. This tactile representation shows the impact of climate change on sea ice over four decades through a climate model (CESM2) showing the drastic decline in sea ice extant. Acknowledgements: National Center for Atmospheric Research, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder Public Library, BLDG61 Source: Arctic sea Ice. (archived version)

Added by: Nihanth Cherukuru. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: cartographic, climate change, sea ice, teaching, 3D printing

2023 – Sensing Network Physicalization

To support interactivity, a computational design pipeline enables designers to 3D print various network datasets. The result are sensing network physicalizations that have innate sensing capabilities. The 3D printed networks can recognize touch selection because of the conductive traces routed throughout the network links. Source: Bae, S. Sandra, Takanori Fujiwara, Anders Ynnerman, Ellen Yi-Luen Do, Michael L. Rivera, and Danielle Albers Szafir (2023). A Computational Design Pipeline to […]

To support interactivity, a computational design pipeline enables designers to 3D print various network datasets. The result are sensing network physicalizations that have innate sensing capabilities. The 3D printed networks can recognize touch selection because of the conductive traces routed throughout the network links. Source: Bae, S. Sandra, Takanori Fujiwara, Anders Ynnerman, Ellen Yi-Luen Do, Michael L. Rivera, and Danielle Albers Szafir (2023). A Computational Design Pipeline to Fabricate Sensing Network Physicalizations. In: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 913-923.

Added by: Sandra Bae. Category: Enabling technology Tags: network, 3D printing

2024 – Travels on the Wind

Travels on the Wind is a tangible data visualization of a decade of travel. Each year is represented by a vertical thread with rings and beads encoding data about trip duration, region, season, transportation, accommodation, and companions. The piece was handcrafted over several months using 3D-printed elements, jewelry findings, and UV epoxy resin. Suspended from driftwood, it is both a personal story and a physical expression of data art. Sources: Project’s website Information is […]

Travels on the Wind is a tangible data visualization of a decade of travel. Each year is represented by a vertical thread with rings and beads encoding data about trip duration, region, season, transportation, accommodation, and companions. The piece was handcrafted over several months using 3D-printed elements, jewelry findings, and UV epoxy resin. Suspended from driftwood, it is both a personal story and a physical expression of data art. Sources: Project’s website Information is Beautiful Awards

Added by: Natalia Kiseleva. Category: Passive physical visualization Tags: self-logging, personal data, 3D printing, travels, jewelry