Leo Rezayan Thesis (PDF 7MB)
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MAKING COLLABORATIVE DATA PHYSICALISATIONS Leo Alireza Rezayan Master of Creative Industries (IVD) A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2019 Urban Informatics Research Group, QUT Design Lab School of Design, Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology Much of the work of this PhD was conducted in and around Brisbane, Australia. In keeping with the spirit of Reconciliation, I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands where QUT now stands – and recognise that these have always been places of teaching and learning. I wish to pay respect to their Elders – past, present and emerging – and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the QUT community. Making Collaborative Data Physicalisations i ii Making Collaborative Data Physicalisations Keywords Physicalisation, physical visualisation, tangible data presentation, physical data pattern, physical data experience, tangible interaction, democratising visualisation, constructive visualisation, digital fabrication, tangible and physical systems, data and information design Physicalization, physical visualization, democratising visualization, constructive visualization Making Collaborative Data Physicalisations iii iv Making Collaborative Data Physicalisations Abstract Data visualisations appear to be ubiquitous in contemporary life, from train and bus maps to census statistics to graphs on utility bills. The most common sorts of visualisations, whether three-dimensional or two-dimensional, are presented in a flat space on paper or a screen. This project aims to design, create and test a physical data presentation physicalisation from scratch to escape what Edward Tufte calls the ‘flatland’; he uses the term flatland to describe the limited two-dimensional environments of paper and screen. This approach offers a deeper engagement with physicalisation and data-mapping activities in the context of use. This project first reviews the field of tangible interaction and collaboration to identify a series of concepts to support the design of collaborative data physicalisation. Next, this research undertakes a research through design and reflective approach to design to create a new, collaborative data physicalisation system. It then uses observations and focus-groups to evaluate the design’s utility and explore how people employ physicalisation as part of their collaborative sense-making and meaning-making. This project contributes knowledge for the design and creation of collaborative physicalisation systems that can be used and reused to present a variety of data sets, and also highlights the processes of sense-making and meaning-making that people engage in when using these systems. The results of this thesis provide new knowledge for how to move data presentations beyond the visual to facilitate multi-sensory interaction and encourage collaborative engagement with data. Making Collaborative Data Physicalisations v vi Making Collaborative Data Physicalisations Table of Contents Keywords........................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ............................................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ...................................................................................................................xiii List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xvii Statement of Original Authorship ...................................................................................... xix Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... xxi Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Context ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Purposes ..................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Significance and Scope............................................................................................... 4 1.5 Thesis Structure ......................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2: Literature Review........................................................................... 9 Chapter overview .................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 9 Digital Fabrication and Data Physicalisation ................................................... 10 2.2 Surveying the Field of Data Physicalisation .............................................................. 11 Historical Data Physicalisations ...................................................................... 12 Data Sculptures .............................................................................................. 13 Dynamic Data Sculptures ............................................................................... 15 Data Physicalisations Based on Personal Data-Sets ......................................... 16 Data Physicalisations Using Concrete Scale and Metaphors ............................ 18 Interactive Data Physicalisations .................................................................... 20 Data Physicalisations and Collaboration ......................................................... 21 2.3 Concepts from Data and Information Visualisations ................................................. 22 Democratisation ............................................................................................. 23 Constructive Visualisation .............................................................................. 23 Minimal Set of Requirements for Information Visualisation............................ 24 2.4 Theoretical Perspectives from HCI ........................................................................... 26 Embodied Interaction and Affordances ........................................................... 26 Boundary Objects ........................................................................................... 28 Token and Constraint ..................................................................................... 29 Common Examples of Mappings .......................................................................... 32 Some of the Advantages of the Token and Constraint Approach ......................... 33 Concepts from HCI ............................................................................................... 34 Some of the Different Kinds of Tokens ................................................................ 35 Perspectives on Collaboration from Tangible Interaction and Interface Design ............................................................................................................ 38 Interpersonal Interaction ....................................................................................... 43 Fluid Transition ..................................................................................................... 43 Shared Access ....................................................................................................... 43 Making Collaborative Data Physicalisations vii Access Point .......................................................................................................... 44 Flexible User Arrangement ................................................................................... 44 Non-Fragmented Visibility ................................................................................... 45 Simultaneous Actions............................................................................................ 45 Direct Manipulation .............................................................................................. 45 Simple Interaction ................................................................................................. 46 Externalisation ...................................................................................................... 46 The Gap in the Literature for Data Physicalisation .......................................... 47 2.5 Chapter Summary .................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 3: Design Research ........................................................................... 51 3.1 Methodology and methods ....................................................................................... 51 Design Research; Design and Research ................................................................ 53 Design Research and Research Through Design Approach .................................. 56 Design as Part of the Research Process ................................................................. 56 Tangible Interaction .............................................................................................