Sprint 1 — Data Physicalization & the Quantified Self
Sprint 1 (4 weeks, January 28 — February 24)
For this design sprint, we’ve chosen to focus on quantitative data as it permeates nearly every aspect of our lives; from steps taken to emails received, our day-to-day experiences leave an ever-growing number of digital traces. The goal of the first investigation is to explore new ways of representing the numbers that define our lives in the hope that by surfacing otherwise hidden data in physical form, we might encourage reflection and support a greater awareness of personal habits.
We began the process of selecting a data set by brainstorming high-level categories that might be well-suited to a quantitative investigation, including sets currently (and conspicuously) tracked through digital means as well as those that might be inferred from adjacent data.
After choosing to pursue consumer behavior as a broad subject, we started to consider the following questions:
What types of consumption data might be meaningful in learning more about oneself?
What are the data sets and interactions that define consumption?
How might the presence of embodied data shape the process of consumption?
We decided to explore the representation of alcohol consumption & behavior through the form of a drinking vessel. We began to consider the various ways in which the form of a drinking vessel could be altered. We ran a number of experiments playing with characteristics such as texture, shape, and material. By beginning with the form of the vessel we hoped to uncover interesting, feasible techniques on which we could map data points.
Surface Treatment & Texture
Drawing inspiration from hobnail glass vessels, these experiments in surface articulation explore the opportunities embedded in existing ornamental tropes.
The 2-dimensional representations were laser-engraved based on a grid pattern, with each point in the field representing a day and the rings representing drinks consumed on that day. In this iteration, we explored the effect of allowing rings to overlap to create different levels of occlusion. The 3-dimensional representation takes the manipulation one step further, altering not only the visual qualities of the surface, but also the tactile qualities. We predict that if rendered in a transparent material, these surface “bubbles” would effectively distort a user’s view through that portion of the glass, mimicking the “blurring” effect of increased consumption.
Shape
In this experiment, the “vessel” was split into 3 components (cup, stem, base) and the size of each component was varied. This technique could be a way to layer 3 data points in one vessel, creating a wide spectrum of possible forms.
Flow
In this experiment, holes were drilled into a glass to create an aesthetic “flow” of liquid as water was poured in. The technique presented interesting opportunities for representing the “flow” of a system. Though there were potential applications for the design of a vessel, this technique also provided new paths of exploration in thinking about a more functional application.
Prototype Development
Drinking Vessel
For the drinking vessel, we moved forward with the 3-dimensional hobnail texture as a way of displaying alcohol consumption. We mapped day-by-day alcohol consumption around the cylindrical vessel, with the volume of each “bubble” representing the alcohol consumption for that day. No consumption still creates a small bubble in order to keep the textural quality of the glass, regardless of days without alcohol consumption.
The glass’s baseline, “field” condition delineates a grid, with each dot representing a single day over the course of 4 months. Every ring of dots along the surface of the glass illustrates 2 weeks of data, maintaining alignment across the vessel so that each vertical column depicts the same day of the week. (For example, Saturdays are stacked vertically so they can be easily compared.) As a result of fabrication constraints, we weren’t able to produce the vessel in glass, but have produced an opaque model to experience the tactile qualities of the object and have also used 3d modeling software to create an approximation of the vessel’s ideal final state.
Pour Over Brewer
The use of liquid flow as data visualization connected closely with the pour over coffee brewing method. By representing coffee consumption through the dripping of coffee in the brewing process, we would be able to create a more complete loop where our consumption feeds back into the process of brewing. And despite being a departure from alcohol consumption, coffee drinking still fit within our idea of consumptive behavior.
We began testing this approach by drilling different sized holes to observe drip rates and sizes. We were able to achieve both a recognizable difference in flow size and drip rate. Through this experimentation we found that holes in the range of 1/8 inch to 3/16 inch created the proper amount of flow necessary for the brewing process and still had recognizable variance between them.
We then laser cut more precise holes into acrylic to continue our testing. The seven holes represent the seven days of the week, with the flow through each one meant to represent the average coffee consumption on each day. We leveraged the flat-base design of the Kalita Wave pour over brewer to create a circular representation of the weekly data.
From the data we tracked about our coffee consumption we were able to calculate our average caffeine consumption on each day of the week, even if from a limited data set. We then mapped these values onto a different range in order to create the a pour over brewer base plate representative of Zach’s coffee consumption.
The formula for calculating the size of a day’s hole is as follows:
Hole Size = (x-a)*((d-c)/(b-a))+c
Where x=average caffeine consumption for the day of the week, [a,b] = the range of smallest daily caffeine consumption to largest, and [c,d] = the range of possible hole sizes. We derived the range of hole sizes from our earlier experimentation.
With this base plate designed, we modeled a pour over brewer that would fit the Kalita Wave brewing filters and 3D printed our prototype.
Through our first prototype we discovered some flaws in our design that needed to be addressed. First, we needed to add a lip to the base plate in order to raise the filter and prevent surface tension from building on the plate. We also needed add a lip to the bottom of each hole so the droplets gathered in the correct place.
