Beyond the Tyranny of the Pixel: Exploring the Physicality of Information Visualization

This paper consists of a review of contemporary methods that map and materialize abstract data as physical artifacts. With computing technology and the access of information influencing every aspect of our everyday lives, one can question the current habit of information displays to dasiasimulatepsila real world metaphors, and whether information could instead be conveyed by approximating the analogue and tangible characteristics of our daily experiences. This paper introduces five different degrees of dasiadata physicalitypsila, which differ in the level of abstraction of how data is mapped and perceived by human senses: ambient display, pixel sculptures, object augmentation, data sculptures and alternative modality. This categorization demonstrates the potential of information visualization as a communication medium in its own right, which proliferates beyond the ubiquitous pixel-based, light-emitting surfaces of today.