Physecology: A Conceptual Framework to Describe Data Physicalizations in their Real-World Context

Abstract

The standard definition for “physicalizations” is “a physical artifact whose geometry or material properties encode data” [ 47 ]. While this working definition provides the fundamental groundwork for conceptualizing physicalization, in practice many physicalization systems go beyond the scope of this definition as they consist of distributed physical and digital elements that involve complex interaction mechanisms. In this article, we examine how “physicalization” is part of a broader ecology—the “physecology”—with properties that go beyond the scope of the working definition. Through analyzing 60 representative physicalization papers, we derived six design dimensions of a physecology: (i) represented data type, (ii) way of information communication, (iii) interaction mechanisms, (iv) spatial input–output coupling, (v) physical setup, and (vi) audiences involved. Our contribution is the extension of the definition of physicalization to the broader concept of “physecology,” to provide conceptual clarity on the design of physicalizations for future work.

Ecorbis: A Data Sculpture of Environmental Behavior in the Home Context

“…The study on Physikit [19] showed that when households spent most time at home, they were able to make sense of the data as they were regularly exposed to the PhysiCubes. Hence, this implicates that an environmental coupling [38] -in which the physicalization is co-located with its audience -could support regular engagement and sense-making of the data. Moreover, an environmental coupling [38] between the data sculpture and its users allows for people to be flexible when submitting data.…”

“…Hence, this implicates that an environmental coupling [38] -in which the physicalization is co-located with its audience -could support regular engagement and sense-making of the data. Moreover, an environmental coupling [38] between the data sculpture and its users allows for people to be flexible when submitting data. Future research could further investigate the influence of different spatial couplings on environmental awareness.…”

From Exploration to End of Life: Unpacking Sustainability in Physicalization Practices

“…Designers and researchers have been exploring the growing space of data physicalizations [6,25], including the elements that constitute its ecology [71]. They integrate principles from Data Visualization, Interaction Design, and Human-computer Interaction to create a myriad of artifacts that represent data through their physical properties.…”

Enhancing Color Scales for Active Data Physicalizations

“…If these issues are not addressed, information communication in data physicalization can fail. At first, an easy way to overcome these issues could be to use digital color palettes [7][8][9][10], or define them manually, to be applied directly to data physicalization, leading to the low efficiency of the color to communicate data [6].…”