. Examples of physical visualizations: a) electricity consumption over one year with each day split into 30min intervals (Detroit Edison electrical company, 1935); b) data sculpture showing a world map of GDP (wooden base) and derivatives volume (wireframe) (Andreas Nicolas Fischer, 2008); c) 3D bar charts depicting the evolution of country indicators over time built specifically for our study. Data sculptures are an increasingly popular form of physical visualization whose purposes are essentially artistic, communicative or educational. But can physical visualizations help carry out actual information visualization tasks? We present the first infovis study comparing physical to on-screen visualizations. We focus on 3D visualizations, as these are common among physical visualizations but known to be problematic on computers. Taking 3D bar charts as an example, we show that moving visualizations to the physical world can improve users' efficiency at information retrieval tasks. In contrast, augmenting on-screen visualizations with stereoscopic rendering alone or with prop-based manipulation was of limited help. The efficiency of physical visualizations seems to stem from features that are unique to physical objects, such as their ability to be touched and their perfect visual realism. These findings provide empirical motivation for current research on fast digital fabrication and self-reconfiguring interfaces.
Physical visualizations are part of this vision as they offer to explore and receive information through multiple sensory channels Jansen et al. REF present the first information visualization study comparing physical to on-screen visualizations.
Evaluating the efficiency of physical visualizations
CHI '13
Computer Science