3D Printed Deformable Surfaces for Shape-Changing Displays

We use interlinked 3D printed panels to fabricate deformable surfaces that are specifically designed for shape-changing displays. Our exploration of 3D printed deformable surfaces, as a fabrication technique for shape-changing displays, shows new and diverse forms of shape output, visualizations, and interaction capabilities. This article describes our general design and fabrication approach, the impact of varying surface design parameters, and a demonstration of possible application examples. We conclude by discussing current limitations and future directions for this work

Digital Fabrication Approaches for the Design and Development of Shape-Changing Displays

Interactive shape-changing displays enable dynamic representations of data and information through physically reconfigurable geometry. The actuated physical deformations of these displays can be utilised in a wide range of new application areas, such as dynamic landscape and topographical modelling, architectural design, physical telepresence and object manipulation. Traditionally, shape-changing displays have a high development cost in mechanical complexity, technical skills and time/finances required for fabrication. There is still a limited number of robust shape-changing displays that go beyond one-off prototypes. Specifically, there is limited focus on low-cost/accessible design and development approaches involving digital fabrication (e.g. 3D printing). To address this challenge, this thesis presents accessible digital fabrication approaches that support the development of shape-changing displays with a range of application examples – such as physical terrain modelling and interior design artefacts. Both laser cutting and 3D printing methods have been explored to ensure generalisability and accessibility for a range of potential users. The first design-led content generation explorations show that novice users, from the general public, can successfully design and present their own application ideas using the physical animation features of the display. By engaging with domain experts in designing shape-changing content to represent data specific to their work domains the thesis was able to demonstrate the utility of shape-changing displays beyond novel systems and describe practical use-case scenarios and applications through rapid prototyping methods. This thesis then demonstrates new ways of designing and building shape-changing displays that goes beyond current implementation examples available (e.g. pin arrays and continuous surface shape-changing displays). To achieve this, the thesis demonstrates how laser cutting and 3D printing can be utilised to rapidly fabricate deformable surfaces for shape-changing displays with embedded electronics. This thesis is concluded with a discussion of research implications and future direction for this work

Digital fabrication of custom interactive objects with rich materials

As ubiquitous computing is becoming reality, people interact with an increasing number of computer interfaces embedded in physical objects. Today, interaction with those objects largely relies on integrated touchscreens. In contrast, humans are capable of rich interaction with physical objects and their materials through sensory feedback and dexterous manipulation skills. However, developing physical user interfaces that offer versatile interaction and leverage these capabilities is challenging. It requires novel technologies for prototyping interfaces with custom interactivity that support rich materials of everyday objects. Moreover, such technologies need to be accessible to empower a wide audience of researchers, makers, and users. This thesis investigates digital fabrication as a key technology to address these challenges. It contributes four novel design and fabrication approaches for interactive objects with rich materials. The contributions enable easy, accessible, and versatile design and fabrication of interactive objects with custom stretchability, input and output on complex geometries and diverse materials, tactile output on 3D-object geometries, and capabilities of changing their shape and material properties. Together, the contributions of this thesis advance the fields of digital fabrication, rapid prototyping, and ubiquitous computing towards the bigger goal of exploring interactive objects with rich materials as a new generation of physical interfaces.Computer werden zunehmend in Geräten integriert, mit welchen Menschen im Alltag interagieren. Heutzutage basiert diese Interaktion weitgehend auf Touchscreens. Im Kontrast dazu steht die reichhaltige Interaktion mit physischen Objekten und Materialien durch sensorisches Feedback und geschickte Manipulation. Interfaces zu entwerfen, die diese Fähigkeiten nutzen, ist allerdings problematisch. Hierfür sind Technologien zum Prototyping neuer Interfaces mit benutzerdefinierter Interaktivität und Kompatibilität mit vielfältigen Materialien erforderlich. Zudem sollten solche Technologien zugänglich sein, um ein breites Publikum zu erreichen. Diese Dissertation erforscht die digitale Fabrikation als Schlüsseltechnologie, um diese Probleme zu adressieren. Sie trägt vier neue Design- und Fabrikationsansätze für das Prototyping interaktiver Objekte mit reichhaltigen Materialien bei. Diese ermöglichen einfaches, zugängliches und vielseitiges Design und Fabrikation von interaktiven Objekten mit individueller Dehnbarkeit, Ein- und Ausgabe auf komplexen Geometrien und vielfältigen Materialien, taktiler Ausgabe auf 3D-Objektgeometrien und der Fähigkeit ihre Form und Materialeigenschaften zu ändern. Insgesamt trägt diese Dissertation zum Fortschritt der Bereiche der digitalen Fabrikation, des Rapid Prototyping und des Ubiquitous Computing in Richtung des größeren Ziels, der Exploration interaktiver Objekte mit reichhaltigen Materialien als eine neue Generation von physischen Interfaces, bei

Bio-inspired Tensegrity Soft Modular Robots

In this paper, we introduce a design principle to develop novel soft modular robots based on tensegrity structures and inspired by the cytoskeleton of living cells. We describe a novel strategy to realize tensegrity structures using planar manufacturing techniques, such as 3D printing. We use this strategy to develop icosahedron tensegrity structures with programmable variable stiffness that can deform in a three-dimensional space. We also describe a tendon-driven contraction mechanism to actively control the deformation of the tensegrity mod-ules. Finally, we validate the approach in a modular locomotory worm as a proof of concept.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Living Machine conference 201

Art and Design Practices as a Driver for Deformable Controls, Textures and Screen Interactions

In this thesis, we demonstrate the innovative uses of deformable interfaces to help de-velop future digital art and design interactions. The great benefits of advancing digital art can often come at a cost of tactile feeling and physical expression, while traditional methods celebrate the diverse sets of physical tools and materials. We identified these sets of tools and materials to inform the development of new art and design interfaces that offer rich physical mediums for digital artist and designers. In order to bring forth these unique inter-actions, we draw on the latest advances in deformable interface technology. Therefore, our research contributes a set of understandings about how deformable interfaces can be har-nessed for art and design interfaces. We identify and discuss the following contributions: insights into tangible and digital practices of artists and designers; prototypes to probe the benefits and possibilities of deformable displays and materials in support of digital-physical art and design, user-centred evaluations of these prototypes to inform future developments, and broader insights into the deformable interface research.Each chapter of this thesis investigates a specific element of art and design, alongside an aspect of deformable interfaces resulting in a new prototype. We begin the thesis by studying the use of physical actuation to simulate artist tools in deformable surfaces. In this chapter, our evaluations highlight the merits of improved user experiences and insights into eyes-free interactions. We then turn to explore deformable textures. Driven by the tactile feeling of mixing paints, we present a gel-based interface that is capable of simulating the feeling of paints on the back of mobile devices. Our evaluations showed how artists endorsed the interactions and held potential for digital oil painting.Our final chapter presents research conducted with digital designers. We explore their colour picking processes and developed a digital version of physical swatches using a mod-ular screen system. This use of tangible proxies in digital-based processes brought a level of playfulness and held potential to support collaborative workflows across disciplines. To conclude, we share how our outcomes from these studies could help shape the broader space of art and design interactions and deformable interface research. We suggest future work and directions based on our findings

Tacsel: Shape-Changing Tactile Screen applied for Eyes-Free Interaction in Cockpit

International audienceTouch screens have become widely used in recent years. Nowadays they have been integrated on numerous electronic devices for common use since they allow the user to interact with what is displayed on the screen. However, these technologies cannot be used in complex systems in which the visual attention is very limited (cockpit manipulation, driving tasks, etc.). This paper introduces the concept of Tacsel, the smaller dynamic element of a tactile screen. Tacsels allow shape-changing and flexible properties to touch screen devices providing eyes-free interaction. We developed a high-resolution prototype of Tacsel to demonstrate its technical feasibility and its potential within a cockpit context. Three interaction scenarios are described and a workshop with brainstorming and video-prototyping is conducted to evaluate the use of the proposed Tacsel in several cockpit tasks. Results showed that interactive Tacsels have a real potential for future cockpits. Several other possible applications are also described, and several advantages and limitations are discussed

Deformable Beamsplitters: Enhancing Perception with Wide Field of View, Varifocal Augmented Reality Displays

An augmented reality head-mounted display with full environmental awareness could present data in new ways and provide a new type of experience, allowing seamless transitions between real life and virtual content. However, creating a light-weight, optical see-through display providing both focus support and wide field of view remains a challenge. This dissertation describes a new dynamic optical element, the deformable beamsplitter, and its applications for wide field of view, varifocal, augmented reality displays. Deformable beamsplitters combine a traditional deformable membrane mirror and a beamsplitter into a single element, allowing reflected light to be manipulated by the deforming membrane mirror, while transmitted light remains unchanged. This research enables both single element optical design and correct focus while maintaining a wide field of view, as demonstrated by the description and analysis of two prototype hardware display systems which incorporate deformable beamsplitters. As a user changes the depth of their gaze when looking through these displays, the focus of virtual content can quickly be altered to match the real world by simply modulating air pressure in a chamber behind the deformable beamsplitter; thus ameliorating vergence–accommodation conflict. Two user studies verify the display prototypes’ capabilities and show the potential of the display in enhancing human performance at quickly perceiving visual stimuli. This work shows that near-eye displays built with deformable beamsplitters allow for simple optical designs that enable wide field of view and comfortable viewing experiences with the potential to enhance user perception.Doctor of Philosoph