alistar

Microbiology as meditation: Living Matter Lab explores “livingness” in time

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 15:54:20 +0000

Microbiology as meditation: Living Matter Lab explores “livingness” in time Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/08/2024 - 09:54

Michael Kwolek

For millennia, scientists, engineers, philosophers and artists have pondered time. What is it? How do we measure it? How does it impact our sense of reality?

The Living Matter Lab at the ATLAS Institute considers these questions through the lens of microbiology and the emerging field of biological human-computer interaction, which combines living materials and digital technologies. By interfacing with microscopic organisms, we can better understand how different forms of life experience time and how we might rethink our human-centric perspective on this concept.

The ATLAS Institute champions radical creativity and invention by pushing the boundaries of multidisciplinary study. As such, Living Matter Lab director and assistant professor, Mirela Alistar, PhD, and her lab members deploy computer science, nanotechnology, microbiology, genetics, social science and art in pursuit of a deeper understanding of alternative perspectives on temporality. Alistar explains, “My fascination with living organisms stems from livingness as a shared experience, the ‘bios’ (life in Greek) we all share.”

Observing SCOBY time
Temporality can be thought of as our relationship to time, but it is more nuanced than that. Oxford Reference notes: “In contrast to the measurable and calculated notion of time/chronology, temporality is concerned with the way in which a sequence of events, a kind of history, is physically experienced by those who live through them or experience them.”

Alistar’s approach to temporality considers how, for example, kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast that lives in and ferments a tea medium) experiences time. Bacterial growth is a unique means for exploring multisensory measures of temporality in that it is possible to see, hear, smell and touch how the SCOBY develops over many days.

The Living Matter Lab team tracked ongoing changes in a kombucha SCOBY’s health and growth via sensors. Each day, the research team recorded observations, noting how biofilm developed and thickened on top while sediment collected on the bottom as the liquid medium lightened in color.

The sounds of temporality
This is where the research takes a surprising turn. At the time, Alistar was also working to engage the ��«��Ƶ creative community with the SynthUX International Synth Design Hackathon. As a home to multi-disciplinary technical and creative talent, ATLAS is the perfect place to connect designers, engineers, artists and musicians together to explore new ways to make and manipulate sound—while competing with teams across the globe.

Though designers have created synthesizers played by natural elements (e.g., using wind, water or sunlight to trigger audio signals), Alistar saw a chance to take it further. “I was determined to have a non-human organism play the instrument live, while it is growing. Since the hackathon kit contained a photoresistor that measures light intensity, and SCOBY creates a layer that obstructs light, I put those together and designed a synthesizer.”

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy0fibGuxm8]

Bio-digital Calendar: engaging with non-human temporalities for multispecies understanding

Originally meant to produce musical tones, the prototype evolved to become a means to synesthetically measure time via light and through sound. Alistar dubbed it a “bio-digital calendar." She says, “it’s an imperfect name, but I had to call it something,” noting that although it is not quite equivalent, the project most closely resembles a calendar.

By translating the subtle changes in light passing through the SCOBY biofilm into corresponding sounds, the synthesizer adds a more pronounced marker to the subtle visual variations one could organically observe in the SCOBY over time. This became a process of “engaging with the organism as a means to incite humans toward recognizing and attuning toward nonhuman temporalities.” In other words, we get to experience microbiological time in terms humans can understand.

This multi-sensory approach to observe how another species experiences time decouples us from the way humans experience time as measured by Earth’s rotation. This allows us to sense different time scales and engender a greater appreciation for (relative) slowless beyond the static beat of a clock’s secondhand.

Layers of understanding
Alistar relates, “The transformative power of research is undeniable. For example, when listening to the livingness of non-human organisms, I end up making a bio-calendar and writing a research paper. However, I get way more than that: I learn more about life. That knowledge is not just a simple byproduct of my research. That knowledge has recursive impact: it transforms me in fundamental ways.”

The team recently presented their findings at TEI2024 (The ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction) in Cork, Ireland, and was awarded Best Pictorial for their efforts.

Alistar and her research group believe this research could lead to the design of bio-digital artifacts made from different types of organisms to encourage humans to engage with other lifeforms more deeply. “When I think of the future, I imagine computing interfaces that can biodegrade and personal laboratories that can democratize healthcare. Taking an open-source and collaborative approach, I seek to build a broad community that can actively contribute to research. I am constantly exploring more inclusive and democratic models for innovation.”

For more details on this project:

Fiona Bell, Joshua Coffie, and Mirela Alistar. 2024. "Bio-Digital Calendar: Attuning to Nonhuman Temporalities for Multispecies Understanding". In: Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '24). (New York, NY, February 11, 2024).

Living Matter Lab Instagram

The Living Matter Lab pursues a deeper understanding of alternative perspectives on temporality through a surprising medium: kombucha SCOBY.

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ATLAS in Ireland: 12 community members present at TEI’24

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 19:05:23 +0000

ATLAS in Ireland: 12 community members present at TEI’24 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 02/09/2024 - 12:05

Michael Kwolek

ATLAS is well-represented at #TEI2024 - the 18th ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction. This year’s conference, in Cork, Ireland, celebrates “cutting-edge scientific research and art that is on the edge of disciplines and on the edge of new unique developments and possibilities.”

Research from 12 members of the ATLAS community including faculty, alumni and students is featured at the conference. The work spans a range of disciplines, including weaving, biomaterials, mixed reality and robotics. In addition, ACME Lab director, Ellen Do, acted as Co-Chair of Graduate Student Consortium; PhD student, Sandra Bae, was an Associate Chair for Pictorials; and ATLAS PhD alum, Fiona Bell, was an Associate Chair for Papers.

Research ATLAS PhD students presented at TEI’24

Loom Pedals: Retooling Jacquard Weaving for Improvisational Design Workflows
Shanel Wu, Xavier A Corr, Xi Gao, Sasha De Koninck, Robin Bowers, and Laura Devendorf

Abstract: We present the Loom Pedals, an open-source hardware/software interface for enhancing a weaver’s ability to create on-the-fly, improvised designs in Jacquard weaving. Learning from traditional handweaving and our own weaving experiences, we describe our process of designing, implementing, and using the prototype Loom Pedals system with a TC2 Digital Jacquard loom. The Loom Pedals include a set of modular, reconfigurable foot pedals which can be mapped to parametric Operations that generate and transform digital woven designs. Our novel interface integrates design and loom control, providing a customizable workflow for playful, improvisational Jacquard weaving. We conducted a formative evaluation of the prototype through autobiographical methods and collaboratively developed future Loom Pedals features. We contribute our prototype, design process, and conceptual reflections on weaving as a human-machine dialog between a weaver, the loom, and many other agents.

Bio-Digital Calendar: Attuning to Nonhuman Temporalities for Multispecies Understanding
Fiona Bell, Joshua Coffie, and Mirela Alistar

Abstract: We explore how actively engaging with the temporalities of a nonhuman organism can lead to multispecies understanding. To do so, we design a bio-digital calendar that brings attention to the growth and health of kombucha SCOBY, a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast that lives in a tea medium. The non-invasive bio-digital calendar surrounds the kombucha SCOBY to track (via sensors) and enhance (via sound) its growth. As we looked at and listened to our kombucha SCOBY calendar on a daily basis, we became attuned to the slowness of kombucha SCOBY. This multisensory noticing practice with the calendar, in turn, destabilized our preconceived human-centered positionality, leading to a more humble, decentered relationship between us and the organism. Through our experiences with the bio-digital calendar, we gained a better relational multispecies understanding of temporalities based on care, which, in the long term, might be a solution to a more sustainable future.

Wizard of Props: Mixed Reality Prototyping with Physical Props to Design Responsive Environments
Yuzhen Zhang, Ruixiang Han, Ran Zhou, Peter Gyory, Clement Zheng, Patrick C. Shih, Ellen Yi-Luen Do, Malte F Jung, Wendy Ju, and Daniel Leithinger

Abstract: Driven by the vision of future responsive environments, where everyday surroundings can perceive human behaviors and respond through intelligent robotic actuation, we propose Wizard of Props (WoP): a human-centered design workflow for creating expressive, implicit, and meaningful interactions. This collaborative experience prototyping approach integrates full-scale physical props with Mixed Reality (MR) to support ideation, prototyping, and rapid testing of responsive environments. We present two design explorations that showcase our investigations of diverse design solutions based on varying technology resources, contextual considerations, and target audiences. Design Exploration One focuses on mixed environment building, where we observe fluid prototyping methods. In Design Exploration Two, we explore how novice designers approach WoP, and illustrate their design ideas and behaviors. Our findings reveal that WoP complements conventional design methods, enabling intuitive body-storming, supporting flexible prototyping fidelity, and fostering expressive environment-human interactions through in-situ improvisational performance.

Making Biomaterials for Sustainable Tangible Interfaces
Fiona Bell, Shanel Wu, Nadia Campo Woytuk, Eldy S. Lazaro Vasquez, Mirela Alistar, and Leah Buechley

Abstract: In this studio, we will explore sustainable tangible interfaces by making a range of biomaterials that are bio-based and readily biodegradable. Building off of previous TEI studios that were centered around one specific biomaterial (i.e., bioplastics at TEI’22 and microbial cellulose at TEI’23), this studio will provide participants the ability to experience a wide variety of biomaterials from algae-based bioplastics, to food-waste-based bioclays, to gelatin-based biofoams. We will teach participants how to identify types of biomaterials that are applicable to their own research and how to make them. Through hands-on activities, we will demonstrate how to implement biomaterials in the design of sustainable tangible interfaces and discuss topics sensitized by biological media such as more-than-human temporalities, bioethics, care, and unmaking. Ultimately, our goal is to facilitate a space in which HCI researchers and designers can collaborate, create, and discuss the opportunities and challenges of working with sustainable biomaterials.

Paper Modular Robot: Circuit, Sensation Feedback, and 3D Geometry
Ruhan Yang

Abstract: Modular robots have proven valuable for STEM education. However, modular robot kits are often expensive, which makes them limited in accessibility. My research focuses on using paper and approachable techniques to create modular robots. The kit’s design encompasses three core technologies: paper circuits, sensation feedback mechanisms, and 3D geometry. I have developed proof-of-concept demonstrations of technologies for each aspect. I will integrate these technologies to design and build a paper modular robot kit. This kit includes various types of modules for input, output, and other functions. My dissertation will discuss the development of these technologies and how they are integrated. This research will address the considerations and techniques for paper as an interactive material, providing a guideline for future research and development of paper-based interaction.

Research from 12 members of the ATLAS community including faculty, alumni and students is featured at the 18th ACM International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction.

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16 Members of the ATLAS Community Present Groundbreaking Research on Human-Computer Interaction at ACM DIS 2023

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 19:43:45 +0000

16 Members of the ATLAS Community Present Groundbreaking Research on Human-Computer Interaction at ACM DIS 2023 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 07/05/2023 - 13:43

Michael Kwolek

ATLAS is well-represented at this year’s ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) 2023 conference convening at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh from July 10-14, 2023. This year’s theme is resilience.

"Resilience is at once about flexibility, durability, and strength as well as a sense of mutuality and hope where solidaristic modes of engagement make new kinds of worlds possible.

This also recognizes that resilience takes many forms in design discourse, ranging across: indigenous knowledge, more-than-human perspectives, and the relationship between human, material and artificial intelligences."

It is exciting to see members across more than half of ATLAS labs represented in this year’s proceedings, with broad-reaching research covering microbiomes as materials for interactive design; 3D printing with spent coffee grounds; personal informatics systems; improving cross-disciplinary collaboration among artists and researchers; expressive movement for altering emotions and awareness; and the intersection of crocheting and data. Take a look:

µMe: Exploring the Human Microbiome as an Intimate Material for Living Interfaces
Fiona Bell (ATLAS PhD alum), Michelle Ramsahoye (ATLAS affiliate PhD student), Joshua Coffie (ATLAS MS alum), Julia Tung (ATLAS BS student), and Mirela Alistar (ATLAS Living Matter Lab director, assistant professor)

Our bodies are home to an unseen ecosystem of microbes that live in symbiosis with us. In this work, we extend the “human” in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) to include these microbes. Specifically, we explore the skin microbiome as an intimate material for interaction design. Viewing the body as a microbial interface, we start by presenting a method to grow our microbiome such that it becomes visible to the human eye. We then present a design space that explores how different environmental parameters, such as temperature and growth media, can be controlled to influence the color of the microbiome. We further investigate how our interactions in a daily uncontrolled environment (e.g., exercising, hugging, typing) can impact the microbiome. We demonstrate several wearable applications that reveal and control the microbiome. Lastly, we address the challenges and opportunities of working with the microbiome as an intimate, living material for interaction design.

Designing a Sustainable Material for 3D Printing with Spent Coffee Grounds
Michael L. Rivera (ATLAS Utility Research Lab Director, assistant professor), S. Sandra Bae (ATLAS PhD student)

The widespread adoption of 3D printers exacerbates existing environmental challenges as these machines increase energy consumption, waste output, and the use of plastics. Material choice for 3D printing is tightly connected to these challenges, and as such researchers and designers are exploring sustainable alternatives. Building on these efforts, this work explores using spent coffee grounds as a sustainable material for prototyping with 3D printing. This material, in addition to being compostable and recyclable, can be easily made and printed at home. We describe the material in detail, including the process of making it from readily available ingredients, its material characteristics and its printing parameters. We then explore how it can support sustainable prototyping practices as well as HCI applications. In reflecting on our design process, we discuss challenges and opportunities for the HCI community to support sustainable prototyping and personal fabrication. We conclude with a set of design considerations for others to weigh when exploring sustainable materials for 3D printing and prototyping.

For additional details, see our article on how this and other Utility Research Lab projects won awards at the Rocky Mountain RepRap Festival.

Being, Having, Doing, and Interacting: A Personal Informatics Approach to Understanding Human Need Satisfaction in Everyday Life
Michael Jeffrey Daniel Hoefer, Stephen Voida, (ATLAS affiliate assistant professor, founding faculty, information science)

A grand challenge for computing is to better understand fundamental human needs and their satisfaction. In this work, we design a personal informatics technology probe that scaffolds reflection on how time-use satisfies Max-Neef's fundamental needs of being, having, doing, and interacting via self-aspects, relationships and organizations, activities, and environments. Through a combination of a think-aloud study (N=10) and a week-long in situ deployment (N=7), participants used the probe to complete self- aspect elicitation and Day Reconstruction Method tasks. Participants then interacted with network visualizations of their daily lives, and discovered insights about their lives. During the study, we collected a dataset of 662 activities annotated with need satisfaction ratings. Despite challenges in operationalizing a theory of need through direct elicitation from individuals, personal informatics systems show potential as a participatory and individually meaningful approach for understanding need satisfaction in everyday life.

Enhancing Accessibility in Soft Robotics: Exploring Magnet-Embedded Paper-Based Interactions
Ruhan Yang (ATLAS PhD student), Ellen Yi-Luen Do (ATLAS ACME Lab director, faculty member)

This paper explores the implementation of embedded magnets to enhance paper-based interactions. The integration of magnets in paper-based interactions simplifies the fabrication process, making it more accessible for building soft robotics systems. We discuss various interaction patterns achievable through this approach and highlight their potential applications.

[Workshop] Towards Mutual Benefit: Reflecting on Artist Residencies as a Method for Collaboration in DIS
Laura Devendorf (ATLAS Unstable Design Lab director, assistant professor), Leah Buechley, Noura Howell, Jennifer Jacobs, Hsin-Liu (Cindy) Kao, Martin Murer, Daniela Rosner, Nica Ross, Robert Soden, Jared Tso, Clement Zheng (ATLAS PhD alum)

While cross-disciplinary collaboration has long been, and continues to be a cornerstone of inventive work in interactive design, the infrastructures of academia, as well as barriers to participation imposed by our professional organizations, make collaboration for some groups harder than others. In this workshop, we’ll focus specifically on how artists residencies are addressing (or not) the challenges that artists, craftspeople, and/or independent designers face when collaborating with researchers affiliated with DIS. While focusing on the question “what is mutual benefit”, this workshop seeks to combine the perspectives of artists as well as researchers collaborating with artists (through residencies or otherwise) to (1) reflect on benefits or deficiencies in what we are currently doing and (2) generate resources for our community to effectively structure and evaluate our methods of collaboration with artists. Our hope is to provide recognition of and pathways for equitable inclusion of artists as a first step towards broader infrastructural change.

Refer to the Unstable Design Lab website for more details on this research.

[Demo] SoniSpace: Expressive Movement Interaction to Encourage Taking Up Space with the Body
Ruojia Sun (ATLAS PhD student), Althea Vail Wallop (ATLAS MS student), Grace Leslie (ATLAS Brain Music Lab director, assistant professor), Ellen Yi-Luen Do (ATLAS ACME Lab director, faculty member)

Movement forms the basis of our thoughts, emotions, and ways of being in the world. Informed by somaesthetics, we design for "taking up space" (e.g. encouraging expansive body movements), which may in turn alter our emotional experience. We demonstrate SoniSpace, an expressive movement interaction experience that uses movement sonification and visualization to encourage users to take up space with their body. We use a first-person design approach to embed qualities of awareness, exploration, and comfort into the sound and visual design to promote authentic and enjoyable movement expression regardless of prior movement experience. Preliminary results from 20 user experiences with the system show that users felt more comfortable with taking up space and with movement in general following the interaction. We discuss our findings about designing for somatically-focused movement interactions and directions for future work.

[Demo] Crochet and Data Activity Book
Mikhaila Friske (ATLAS affiliate PhD student)

This demo focuses around crocheting and data. In addition to a physical workbook for conference goers to peruse and try, there will be a few small set-ups for specific activities and a small craft circle for people to craft within if they so choose.

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ATLAS researchers receive seed grants from Resilient Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Interdisciplinary Research Theme

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2023 15:49:58 +0000

ATLAS researchers receive seed grants from Resilient Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Interdisciplinary Research Theme Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/19/2023 - 09:49

Two ATLAS researchers received a seed grant to study how we might design sustainable interactions between machines and non-human organisms.

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CHI 2023 features works by 19 ATLAS community members

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 18:22:03 +0000

CHI 2023 features works by 19 ATLAS community members Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/25/2023 - 12:22

We are happy to announce that 19 members of the ATLAS community contributed to work accepted for the 2023 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, taking place in Hamburg, Germany, April 23–28.

Accepting fewer than 25 percent of submissions, CHI is the premier international conference on human-computer interaction (HCI), attracting researchers and practitioners from around the world.

A special shout-out goes to Laura Devendorf, Etta Sandry and Emma Goodwill, who were awarded an Honorable Mention (top 5% of submissions) for their paper, "AdaCAD: Parametric Design as a New Form of Notation for Complex Weaving."

Details of all accepted work by members of the ATLAS community, which includes faculty with tenure homes in the College of Engineering and Applied Science and College of Media, Communication and Information, are listed below.

ATLAS @ CHI 2023 Papers

AdaCAD: Parametric Design as a New Form of Notation for Complex Weaving (BEST PAPER HONORABLE MENTION)

Laura Devendorf (ATLAS Unstable Design Lab Director, Information Science faculty member), Kathryn Walters , Marianne Fairbanks , Etta Sandry (ATLAS Unstable Design Lab weaving resident), Emma R. Goodwill (ATLAS Unstable Design Lab member, undergraduate student)

Woven textiles are increasingly a medium through which HCI is inventing new technologies. Key challenges in integrating woven textiles in HCI include the high level of textile knowledge required to make effective use of the new possibilities they afford and the need for tools that bridge the concerns of textile designers and concerns of HCI researchers. This paper presents AdaCAD, a parametric design tool for designing woven textile structures. Through our design and evaluation of AdaCAD we found that parametric design helps weavers notate and explain the logics behind the complex structures they generate. We discuss these finding in relation to prior work in integrating craft and/or weaving in HCI, histories of woven notation, and boundary object theory to illuminate further possibilities for collaboration between craftspeople and HCI practitioners.

Marking Material Interactions with Computer Vision

Peter Gyory (ATLAS ACME Lab member, PhD candidate), S. Sandra Bae (ATLAS ACME Lab member, PhD student), Ruhan Yang (ATLAS ACME Lab member, PhD student), Ellen Yi-Luen Do (ATLAS ACME Lab Director, Computer Science faculty member), Clement Zheng (PhD alumnus, ATLAS ACME Lab)

The electronics-centered approach to physical computing presents challenges when designers build tangible interactive systems due to its inherent emphasis on circuitry and electronic components. To explore an alternative physical computing approach we have developed a computer vision (CV) based system that uses a webcam, computer, and printed fiducial markers to create functional tangible interfaces. Through a series of design studios, we probed how designers build tangible interfaces with this CV-driven approach. In this paper, we apply the annotated portfolio method to reflect on the fifteen outcomes from these studios. We observed that CV markers offer versatile materiality for tangible interactions, afford the use of democratic materials for interface construction, and engage designers in embodied debugging with their own vision as a proxy for CV. By sharing our insights, we inform other designers and educators who seek alternative ways to facilitate physical computing and tangible interaction design.

Felt Experiences with Kombucha Scoby: Exploring First-person Perspectives with Living Matter

Netta Ofer (ATLAS Living Matter Lab member, PhD student), Mirela Alistar (ATLAS Living Matter Lab Director, Computer Science faculty member)

Designing with living organisms can offer new perspectives to design research and practices in HCI. In this work, we explore first-person perspectives through design research with Kombucha Scoby, a microbial biofilm. We began with a material design exploration, producing digitally fabricated and crafted samples with Scoby. As we noticed our felt experiences while growing and working with Kombucha Scoby, we shifted towards a reflective autoethnographic study. Through reflective writings, we followed sensory experiences such as hearing the Kombucha fermentation, touching the Scoby while harvesting it, and watching the slow growth of layers over time. Subsequently, we designed "sensory engagement probes”: designed experiments that bring forward new connections and communicate our process, motivations, and tensions that emerged while engaging with the organism. Lastly, we discuss how such design research can inform material design with living matter by creating space to contemplate "life as shared experience" and more-than-human design perspectives.

Data, Data, Everywhere: Uncovering Everyday Data Experiences for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Keke Wu (recent ATLAS PhD student), Michelle H. Tran, Emma Petersen (ATLAS MS alumnus), Varsha Koushik, Danielle Albers Szafir (former ATLAS faculty member)

Data is everywhere, but may not be accessible to everyone. Conventional data visualization tools and guidelines often do not actively consider the specific needs and abilities of people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), leaving them excluded from data-driven activities and vulnerable to ethical issues. To understand the needs and challenges people with IDD have with data, we conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with individuals with IDD and their caregivers. Our algorithmic interview approach situated data in the lived experiences of people with IDD to uncover otherwise hidden data encounters in their everyday life. Drawing on findings and observations, we characterize how they conceptualize data, when and where they use data, and what barriers exist when they interact with data. We use our results as a lens to reimagine the role of visualization in data accessibility and establish a critical near-term research agenda for cognitively accessible visualization.

Designing Accessible Visualizations for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Keke Wu (recent ATLAS PhD student)

Visualization amplifies cognition and helps a viewer see the trends, patterns, and outliers in data. However, conventional visualization tools and guidelines do not actively consider the unique needs and abilities of people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), leaving them excluded from data-driven activities and vulnerable to ethical issues in everyday life. My dissertation work explores the challenges and opportunities of cognitively accessible visualization. Through mixed-method approaches and close collaboration with people with IDD, my team and I ran experiments and developed guidelines to improve current visualizations, we interviewed people with IDD and gained an initial understanding of their daily data experiences, and we are currently in the process of revising a participatory design workshop to create accessible visualizations for and with this population. For the remaining dissertation work, I hope to further expand our knowledge of cognitively accessible visualization, translating what I have learned from these experiences into a graphical user interface that supports people with IDD with their self-advocacy and self-expression using personally relevant data. My ultimate career goal is to theorize cognitively accessible visualization and empower people with IDD to make informed decisions and generate meaningful discoveries through accessible visual analytics.

Crafting Interactive Circuits on Glazed Ceramic Ware

Clement Zheng (PhD alumnus, ATLAS ACME Lab), Bo Han, Xin Liu, Laura Devendorf (ATLAS Unstable Design Lab Director, Information Science faculty member), Hans Tan, Ching Chiuan Yen

Glazed ceramic is a versatile material that we use every day. In this paper, we present a new approach that instruments existing glazed ceramic ware with interactive electronic circuits. We informed this work by collaborating with a ceramics designer and connected his craft practice to our experience in physical computing. From this partnership, we developed a systematic approach that begins with the subtractive fabrication of traces on glazed ceramic surfaces via the resist-blasting technique, followed by applying conductive ink into the inlaid traces. We capture and detail this approach through an annotated flowchart for others to refer to, as well as externalize the material insights we uncovered through ceramic and circuit swatches. We then demonstrate a range of interactive home applications built with this approach. Finally, we reflect on the process we took and discuss the importance of collaborating with craftspeople for material-driven research within HCI.

TactorBots: A Haptic Design Toolkit for Out-of-lab Exploration of Emotional Robotic Touch

Ran Zhou (ATLAS THING Lab member, PhD student), Zachary Schwemler (ATLAS MS alumnus), Akshay Baweja, Harpreet Sareen, Casey Lee Hunt (ATLAS THING Lab member, PhD student), Daniel Leithinger (ATLAS THING Lab Director, Computer Science faculty member)

Emerging research has demonstrated the viability of emotional communication through haptic technology inspired by interpersonal touch. However, the meaning-making of artificial touch remains ambiguous and contextual. We see this ambiguity caused by robotic touch’s "otherness" as an opportunity for exploring alternatives. To empower emotional haptic design in longitudinal out-of-lab exploration, we devise TactorBots, a design toolkit consisting of eight wearable hardware modules for rendering robotic touch gestures controlled by a web-based software application. We deployed TactorBots to thirteen designers and researchers to validate its functionality, characterize its design experience, and analyze what, how, and why alternative perceptions, practices, contexts, and metaphors would emerge in the experiment. We provide suggestions for designing future toolkits and field studies based on our experiences. Reflecting on the findings, we derive design implications for further enhancing the ambiguity and shifting the mindsets to expand the design space.

Note: This team will also lead an Interactivity session: Demonstrating TactorBots: A Haptic Design Toolkit for Exploration of Emotional Robotic Touch

Workshops

ATLAS will also be represented at the Electrofab 2023 workshop during CHI. This year’s theme is “Beyond Prototyping Boards: Future Paradigms for Electronics Toolkits,” and will feature two papers authored by ATLAS members.

Fabricating Paper Circuits with Subtractive Processing

Ruhan Yang (ATLAS ACME Lab member, PhD student), Krithik Ranjan (ATLAS ACME Lab member, PhD student), Ellen Yi-Luen Do (ATLAS ACME Lab Director, Computer Science faculty member)

This paper introduces a new method of paper circuit fabrication that overcomes design barriers and increases flexibility in circuit design. Conventional circuit boards rely on thin traces, which limits the complexity and accuracy when applied to paper circuits. To address this issue, we propose a method that uses large conductive zones in paper circuits and performs subtractive processing during their fabrication. This approach eliminates design barriers and allows for more flexibility in circuit design. We introduce PaperCAD, a software tool that simplifies the design process by converting traditional circuit design to paper circuit design. We demonstrate our technique by creating two paper circuit boards. Our approach has the potential to promote the development of new applications for paper circuits.

Facilitating Physical Computing with Computer Vision Markers

Clement Zheng (PhD alumnus, ATLAS ACME Lab member), Peter Gyory (ATLAS ACME Lab member, PhD Candidate), Ellen Yi-Luen Do (ATLAS ACME Lab Director and Computer Science faculty member)

The electronics-centered approach to physical computing presents challenges when designers build tangible interactive systems due to its inherent emphasis on circuitry and electronic components. To explore an alternative physical computing approach we have developed a computer vision (CV) based system that uses a webcam, computer, and printed fiducial markers to create functional tangible interfaces. Over the last three years, we ran a series of studios with design participants to investigate how CV markers can participate in physical computing and the construction of physical interactive systems. We observed that CV markers offer versatile materiality for tangible interactions, afford the use of democratic materials for interface construction, and engage designers in embodied debugging with their own vision as a proxy for CV. Taking these insights, we are developing a visual editor that enables designers to easily program marker behavior and connect it to keyboard events. We believe that such a platform will enable designers to develop physical and digital interfaces concurrently while minimizing the complexity of integrating both sides. In addition, this platform can also facilitate the construction of many alternative interfaces for existing software that cater to different people. We discuss our motivation, progress, and future work of this research here.

Two ATLAS community members also co-organized a workshop in the Extended Abstracts portion of CHI 2023.

Living Bits and Radical Aminos: A Workshop on Bio-Digital Interfaces for Human-Computer Interaction

Jack Forman, Pat Pataranutaporn, Phillip Gough, Raphael Kim, Fiona Bell (PhD Candidate), Netta Ofer (ATLAS Living Matter Lab member, PhD student), Jasmine Lu, Angela Vujic, Muqing Bai, Pattie Maes, Hiroshi Ishii, Misha Sra

As knowledge around bio-digital interaction continues to unfold, there are new opportunities for HCI researchers to integrate biology as a design and computational material. Our motivation for the workshop is to bring together interdisciplinary researchers with interest in exploring the next generation of biological HCI and exploring novel bio-digital interfaces implicating diverse contexts, scales, and stakeholders. The workshop aims to provide a space for interactive discussions, presentations, and brainstorming regarding opportunities and approaches for HCI around bio-digital interfaces. We invite researchers from both academia and industry to submit a short position paper in the following areas: Synthetic Biology, Biological Circuits, Do-It-Yourself Biology (DIYBio), Biomimetic Interfaces, Living Interfaces, Living Artefacts, and Bio-ethics. We will evaluate submissions on fit, ability to stimulate discussion, and contribution to HCI. On our website we have included examples of past work in this area to help inspire and inform position papers. Our website will host a recording of the entire workshop session with accepted papers to support asynchronous viewing for participants who are unable to attend in-person or synchronously.

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ATLAS research front and center at DIS’22

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 19:26:58 +0000

ATLAS research front and center at DIS’22 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/29/2022 - 13:26

Researchers from ATLAS Institute's Unstable Design, THING, Living Matter and Superhuman Computing labs presented four papers, including three that received “Honorable Mention” awards, at the ACM conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '22).

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DIS'22: Living Matter and Unstable Design labs introduce biofoam

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 05:54:48 +0000

DIS'22: Living Matter and Unstable Design labs introduce biofoam Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/21/2022 - 23:54

Living Matter Lab/Unstable Design Lab

Exploring biofoam as a Material for Tangible Interaction, authored by Eldy S. Lazaro Vasquez, Netta Ofer, Shanel Wu,Mary Etta West, Mirela Alistar and Laura Devendorf introduced the DIS audience to biofoam, a water soluble and biodegradable material that can be made conductive.

During the DIS‘22 Multisensory Design session, lead author, Lazaro, an ATLAS PhD student, presented the team's biofoam research and demonstrated the unique opportunities the material brings to HCI communities. Vasquez described the material in detail, including the process of making biofoam from scratch and fabricating the material into forms with handcraft techniques. She also presented two HCI-specific applications of biofoam and demonstrated the different life cycles of the material, all of which can be considered in the design process; biofoam can be cooked, molded, layered, extruded, dissolved and recooked.

Publication

Eldy S. Lazaro Vasquez, Netta Ofer,Shanel Wu, Mary Etta West, Mirela Alistar and Laura Devendorf. 2022. Exploring Biofoam as a Material for Tangible Interaction. In Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ’22), Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1525-1529. https://doi.org/10.1145/3532106.3533494 (June 13-17, 2022—Virtual Event, Australia).

Exploring biofoam as a Material for Tangible Interaction, authored by Eldy S. Lazaro Vasquez, Netta Ofer, Shanel Wu, Mary Etta West, Mirela Alistar and Laura Devendorf introduced the DIS audience to biofoam, a water soluble and biodegradable material that can be made conductive.

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ATLAS@CHI2022

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 16:14:11 +0000

ATLAS@CHI2022 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 04/28/2022 - 10:14

ATLAS researchers will present six published works and two workshops at the 2022 ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI), the world’s preeminent forum for the field of human-computer interaction. The conference, commonly referred to as “CHI,” will be held hybrid-onsite April 30-May 6, 2022 in New Orleans.

Researchers affiliated with Laura Devendorf’s Unstable Design Lab will be presenting two workshops, one full paper and one journal article; Mirela Alistar’s Living Matter Lab authored two papers, one of which received a Best Paper Honorable Mention award. The ACME Lab collaborated with the VisuaLab (formerly with the ATLAS Institute) for one paper and ATLAS associated PhD students also will present one paper.

CHI Papers are publications of original research in the field of Human Computer Interaction that are read and cited worldwide, and have a broad impact on the development of HCI theory, method, and practice. It's a prestigious honor for papers to be accepted to CHI; within the last decade, the overall acceptance rate for CHI has only been 20-27 percent.

CHI 2022 papers, journal articles and workshops by ATLAS faculty and students

Living Matter Lab

ReClaym our Compost: Biodegradable Clay for Intimate Making. [Best Paper Honorable Mention Award].
Fiona Bell, (PhD student, ATLAS); Netta Ofer, (research master’s student, ATLAS); Mirela Alistar, (faculty, ATLAS/Computer Science).
This paper presents ReClaym: a clay-like material made from the makers’ own compost, reflecting the makers' relationship with food, applied manual fabrication techniques and design explorations. Through a process of Intimate Making with an intimate material, researchers used ReClaym to create a collection of applications, including garden paraphernalia, games and personal household items.

Biomaterial Playground: Engaging with Bio-based Materiality (interactivity paper)
Fiona Bell, (ATLAS PhD student); Netta Ofer, (research master’s student, ATLAS); Hyelin Choi (undergraduate student, Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology); Ella S McQuaid (undergraduate student, Mechanical Engineering); Ethan Frier (MS, CTD—Creative Industries '21); Mirela Alistar, (faculty, ATLAS/Computer Science).
In this work, researchers introduce a range of sustainable biomaterials including ReClaym, a clay-like material made from compost; Alganyl, an algae-based bioplastic; Dinoflagellates, bioluminescent algae; SCOBY, symbiotic cultures of bacteria and yeast; and Spirulina, nutrient-dense blue-green algae to create unique interactive interfaces. The researchers will present the biomaterials at CHI, where conference participants can engage with the biomaterials.

ACME Lab—Workshop Papers

Augmented Personification of Intelligent Music Tools for Creativity and Collaboration
ACM CHI 2022 Workshop 47: Intelligent Music Interfaces: When Interactive Assistance and Augmentation Meet Musical Instruments .
Torin Hopkins (ATLAS PhD student), Rishi Vanukuru (ATLAS PhD student), Suibi Che-Chuan Weng (Creative Industries master's student), Amy Banic, (Visiting Associate Professor, Computer Science), Ellen Yi-Luen Do (Professor, ATLAS Institute & Computer Science).

Designing and Studying Social Interactions in Shared Virtual Spaces using Mobile Augmented Reality
ACM CHI 2022 Workshop 46: Social Presence in Virtual Event Spaces
Rishi Vanukuru, (ATLAS PhD student), Amarnath Murugan, Jayesh Pillai, and Ellen Yi-Luen Do (Professor, ATLAS Institute & Computer Science).

What to Design Next: Actuated Materials and Soft Robots for Children
ACM CHI 2022 Workshop 39: Actuated Materials and Soft Robotics Strategies for Human Computer Interaction Design.
Chris Hill (ATLAS PhD student), Ruojia Sun, (ATLAS PhD student), Ellen Yi-Luen Do (Professor, ATLAS Institute & Computer Science).

ACME Lab and VisuaLab* collaboration

Making Data Tangible: A Cross-disciplinary Design Space for Data Physicalization
S. Sandra Bae, (ATLAS PhD student), Clement Zheng, (ATLAS post-doctoral research associate, PhD; Technology, Media & Society ‘20); Mary Etta West, (PhD student, Computer Science); Ellen Yi-Luen Do, (faculty, ATLAS/Computer Science); Samuel Huron, (faculty, Telecom - Institut Polytechnique de Paris); Danielle Albers Szafir (UNC Chapel Hill, former ATLAS faculty).
Physicalizations are more than just physical representations of data. Each physicalization is also (un)consciously a product of different research communities physicalization is part of, specifically of their research perspective and values. But research currently lacks a synthesis across the different communities data physicalization sits upon, including their approaches, theories, and even terminologies. To bridge these communities synergistically, ATLAS researchers present a design space that describes and analyzes physicalizations according to three facets: context (end-user considerations), structure (the physical structure of the artifact), and interactions (interactions with both the artifact and data).

*Following Danielle Szafir's departure last summer, the ATLAS VisuaLab was closed

Unstable Design Lab

The Eco-Technical Interface: Attuning to the Instrumental
Maya Livio (PhD student, Intermedia Art, Writing and Performance); Laura Devendorf (faculty, ATLAS/Information Science).
This paper introduces the concept of the eco-technical interface— which represents the sites at which human, non-human and technological interfaces overlap—as a critical zone at which designers can surface and subvert issues of multispecies relations, such as nonhuman instrumentalization.

Examining Narrative Sonification: Using First-Person Retrospection Methods to Translate Radio Production to Interaction Design (journal article)
Jordan Wirfs-Brock (PhD candidate, Information Science); Alli Fam (reporter, New Hampshire Public Radio); Laura Devendorf (faculty, ATLAS/Information Science); Brian C Keegan (faculty, Information Science).
This first-person, retrospective exploration of two radio sonification pieces illuminates the role of narrative in designing to support listeners as they learn to listen to data.

Sketching Across the Senses: Exploring Sensory Translation as a Generative Practice for Designing Data Representations (workshop)
Jordan Wirfs-Brock , (PhD candidate, Information Science); Maxene Graze (Data Visualization Engineer, MURAL), Laura Devendorf (faculty, ATLAS/Information Science); Audrey Desjardins, (faculty, University of Washington); Visda Goudarzi (faculty, Columbia College Chicago); Mikhaila Friske, (PhD student, Information Science); Brian C Keegan (faculty, Information Science).
This workshop engages synesthesia to explore how translating between sensory modalities might uncover new ways to experience and represent data.

Making Access: Increasing Inclusiveness in Making (workshop)
Verena Fuchsberger (Post Doc, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg), Dorothé Smit (Research Fellow, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg), Nathalia Campreguer França (Research Fellow, Center for Human-Computer Interaction,University of Salzburg); Georg Regal (Scientist, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology); Stefanie Wuschitz (Mz. Baltazar’s Lab); Barbara Huber (Mz. Baltazar’s Lab); Joanna Kowolik (project manager, Happylab); Laura Devendorf (faculty, ATLAS/Information Science); Elisa Giaccardi (faculty, Delft University of Technology); Ambra Trotto (Research Institute of Sweden).
In this one-day workshop, organizers aim to counteract the phenomenon that access to making (e.g., in makerspaces, fablabs, etc.) is not equally distributed, with certain groups of people being underrepresented (e.g., women*).

Associated PhD Students

Augmented Reality and Robotics: A Survey and Taxonomy for AR-enhanced Human-Robot Interaction and Robotic Interfaces
Ryo Suzuki (ATLAS/PhD Computer Science '20; assistant professor, University of Calgary); Adnan Karim, (MS student, University of Calgary); Tian Xia, (BS, Computer Science, University of Calgary); Hooman Hedayati, (ATLAS/PhD Computer Science ‘21), Nicolai Marquardt (faculty, University College London).
Researchers surveyed 460 research papers, formulating key challenges and opportunities that guide and inform future research in AR and robotics.

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Augmenting Books With Tangible Animation

Anonymous — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 19:01:10 +0000

Augmenting Books With Tangible Animation Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/31/2022 - 12:01

SIGGRAPH sat down with Purnendu, a PhD student in the ATLAS Institute and a researcher at Meta Reality Labs, to talk about his team’s SIGGRAPH 2021 Labs project, “Electriflow: Augmenting Books With Tangible Animation Using Soft Electrohydraulic Actuators.” The team's actuator technology strives to augment animation within physical books.

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ATLAS community’s work featured in Museum of ��«��Ƶ exhibit

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 22:18:54 +0000

ATLAS community’s work featured in Museum of ��«��Ƶ exhibit Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/01/2021 - 16:18

A group of CU ��«��Ƶ artists and technologists, many of whom share connections with the ATLAS Institute, contributed to the Museum of ��«��Ƶ’s newest exhibit, “Convivial Machines,” which opened Saturday, Oct. 30.

The gallery showcase is the first museum installation for ��«��Ƶ Experiments in Art and Technology (B.E.A.T), says the exhibit's curator, Jiffer Harriman (ATLS PhD '16), who started B.E.A.T. in 2019 to “foster creativity and collaboration at the intersection of art and technology.” Museum visitors can expect to see a variety of interactive systems, including musical installations and video art, as well kinetic sculptures, digital games, bioluminescent algae and more, Harriman says.

“The exhibit highlights a local community of artists and creative technologists looking for new ways to see the world,” says Harriman. “It explores the differences and balance between what people do well—expressiveness and creativity—and what machines are good at–repetition and connection.”

One of the emerging themes of the show is the tension between the benefits that technology offers and the negative impacts, Harriman says. Some installations imagine new possibilities, while others point toward technology’s negative effects, including an installation of "useless boxes" that contain a single switch, which when turned on, is immediately switched off by a robotic finger, he adds.

The ATLAS Connection
Inspired by bioluminescent algae and the idea of engaging with something “live,” Harriman has blended research led by Mirela Alistar, assistant professor of computer science with the ATLAS Institute, into the installation. Alistar, also the director of the Living Matter Lab, and Netta Ofer, an ATLAS master’s student, have created an exhibit, “Bioluminescent Touch,” where visitors can interact in the darkness with dinoflagellates, algae that produce light when exposed to oxygen through physical stimulation.

“The bioluminescent response to human touch creates unexpected connection and empathy with the microorganism, drawing us into the wonder of communicating and interacting with nonhuman beings,” Ofer says.

Slaton Spangler, now a software engineer with LASP who, as an undergraduate majoring in computer science was a very active member of the BTU Lab, made the interactive installation, “Amorphous Breeze.” The piece displays a network of undulating “blobs” that fade in and out following a set of underlying rules. When a viewer presses a glowing green button, a fan in the real world appears to blow away the blobs, replacing them with new blobs that follow new rules. The patterns that emerge from the waves of blobs tend to be mesmerizing in the same fashion as a lava lamp, Spangler says.

Spangler also constructed the installation, “Clear the Void,” which uses an XBox Kinect to create an interactive space of digital images provided by Matt Corones, an ATLAS master's student (Creative Industries) in the ACME Lab, Dajira Medić, Jeanne Kipke, Andy DiLallo and Shannon Derthick.

In a third installation, Spangler created a hardware platform to loop an installation of video art from the B.E.A.T. community that includes a range of experimental techniques and themes.

If you go

Who: Open to everyone

What: "Convivial Machines," an exhibit by ��«��Ƶ Experiments in Art and Technology (B.E.A.T), including many artists and technologists from the ATLAS community.

When: Oct. 30–Feb. 6, 2022

Where: Museum of ��«��Ƶ, 2205 Broadway, ��«��Ƶ

Cost: adults $10; seniors, college students, youth (5-17) $8; under 5–free.

Info

Video artists including Angie Eng (PhD IAWP ‘21) who as a PhD student was an active member of the BTU Lab, and Professor Ellen Do and Annie Margaret, teaching assistant professor, were on Eng's dissertation committee; Bentley Brown; Christopher M. Carruth, former ATLAS lecturer/current CMCI lecturer, (MTMS—Information and Communication Technology for Development '13); Isaac Kim, ATLAS master’s student; Kevin Hoth, ATLAS lecturer; Laura Hyunjhee Kim, IAWP PhD student and a member of the BTU Lab; and Mark Mosher project their videos in a loop on a wall.

Priyanka Makin, an ATLAS master's student, fabricated the “Nature Mobile,” a kinetic sculpture of nature shapes that explores the future relationship between technology, engineering, art and nature. Makin used a laser cutter to cut the pieces and built and programmed the motor. With the help of natural sunlight in the lobby, the sculpture scatters colors throughout the entry to the museum.

Perry Owens, an undergraduate CTD student and member of the ACME Lab, created the sculpture, "The Future of Problem Solving," which expresses the duality between man and machine as they are tasked with solving a puzzle. To succeed, man and machine must achieve harmony through trust and coordination. Owens made the "human" from resin casts of his own hands. Using a 3D modeling software, he designed the mechanical arms and 3D printed them with fingers that can be posed. He also 3D printed the Rubik's cube, which can be rotated, and added a wooden exterior, while the LED-lined portals and mirrors were laser-cut.

"I imagine the future of our world is one in which there is collaboration between technology and humanity, instead of competition and war," Owens says. "This piece was fabricated using human skills combined with technology, akin to its message of unity between man and machine."

A collaborative effort of seven created the musical arcade, “Galaga's Ghost,” a multi-channel musical instrument that up to six people can play with buttons, joysticks and air guitar moves. The interactive musical composition was created by Sean Winters, a CMCI lecturer in the Department of Critical Media Practices who performs regularly in the ATLAS Black Box. Winters is also on the B2 advisory committee. Torin Hopkins, a PhD student in the ACME Lab and the instructor for the SOUND class, helped design the interface layout and assisted with the final fabrication of the piece.

A group of 14 artists and technologists connected to ATLAS contributed to the Museum of ��«��Ƶ’s newest exhibit, “Convivial Machines,” which opened Oct. 30. It's the first museum installation for ��«��Ƶ Experiments in Art and Technology (B.E.A.T), founded by Jiffer Harriman (ATLS PhD '16).

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alistar

Microbiology as meditation: Living Matter Lab explores “livingness” in time

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ATLAS in Ireland: 12 community members present at TEI’24

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16 Members of the ATLAS Community Present Groundbreaking Research on Human-Computer Interaction at ACM DIS 2023

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ATLAS researchers receive seed grants from Resilient Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Interdisciplinary Research Theme

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CHI 2023 features works by 19 ATLAS community members

ATLAS @ CHI 2023 Papers

Workshops

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ATLAS research front and center at DIS’22

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DIS'22: Living Matter and Unstable Design labs introduce biofoam

Living Matter Lab/Unstable Design Lab

Publication

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ATLAS@CHI2022

CHI 2022 papers, journal articles and workshops by ATLAS faculty and students

Living Matter Lab

ACME Lab—Workshop Papers

ACME Lab and VisuaLab* collaboration

Unstable Design Lab

Associated PhD Students

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Augmenting Books With Tangible Animation

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ATLAS community’s work featured in Museum of ��«����Ƶ exhibit

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ATLAS community’s work featured in Museum of ��«��Ƶ exhibit