Design of a Tangible Data Visualisation
This project describes the design of DNA Jewellery, which is a wearable tangible data representation of personal DNA profile data. An iterative design process was followed to develop a 3D form-language (Left) that could be mapped to standard DNA profile data, with the aim of retaining readability of data while also producing an aesthetically pleasing and unique result in the area of personalized design. The work explores design issues with the production of data tangibles, contributes to a growing body of research exploring tangible representations of data and highlights the importance of approaches that move between technology, art and design.
The increased availability of 3D printing opens up new possibilities for expanding the visual display of data to also make use of tactile qualities and three-dimensional form as carriers of meaning in data visualisations. Producing tangible data- visualisations as physical forms seems promising in several respects. Being able to hold and rotate physical objects could allow people to easily see the data from different angles and build a bodily understanding of the shape of the data, and making use of the tactile surface qualities of a physical form could support the layering of multiple dimensions of data and better enable people to get a 'feel' for the data.
In contrast to data-visualisation approaches that make use of 3D computer rendered graphics presented through the use of displays, this work explores the possibilities of 3D-printed tangible objects that can be directly held and handled (or even worn). Although these objects are 'tangible' things, our approach should be distinguished from research into Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs), firstly because the work presented here is not interactive and secondly because whereas TUIs often provide for the display and manipulation of data, this is typically through the use of simple geometric forms as interactive 'phicons' which act as containers for data. Our tangible data-visualisations are not simple geometric forms, but complex shapes whose physical form is directly derived from an underlying data set.
This project also seeks to explore issues of personalised items. Desires for personalisation raise many issues for design. Every person is unique. We have our own ways of looking, behaving, speaking, acting, thinking, learning, deciding and choosing. The purpose of this study is not to find the answer to why we are different. Rather, it is to address the need for personalised design that people exhibit. Every person has a unique taste and chooses differently. We have our favourite colours and styles, and some people even choose clothes to reflect their identity. In this respect, freedman makes a valuable point about data visualisation, which is that it doesn't need "...to be boring to be functional or extremely sophisticated to look beautiful". In other words, it is possible to create data visualisations to be both beautiful and functional. This project sets out to create a visualisation of personal