We present an approach to more sustainable organising and facilitating of data physicalization workshops, via the creation of the ZeroWaste PhysKit — a data physicalization kit that can be used across multiple workshops without either loss of materials or the production of waste. We outline the practices we employed in the creation of the kit, which constitute a novel approach to sustainable physicalization, as well as reflections based on three case studies, to prompt discussion and facilitate replication and iteration by other practitioners and researchers.

Against the backdrop of a growing concern with environmental sustainability across HCI research and design, TEI'24 was the first version of the conference to include a sustainability chair. In conjunction with this increasing interest in sustainability, we organised a Studio at TEI'24 to engage the community in a conversation about the sustainability of conferences by using data physicalizations to mediate this discussion. In a one-day Studio, the organisers and attendees constructed two large-scale input physicalizations that were deployed at the conference venue to collect data around conference sustainability from TEI attendees. In this pictorial, we present the outcomes of this Studio, including the two input physicalizations and the collected data. We offer a description of the strategies we employed to design in a more sustainable way, as well as reflections on input physicalizations and the opportunities and challenges they present for facilitating data-driven dialogue.

Data physicalizations have gained prominence across domains, but their environmental impact has been largely overlooked. This work addresses this gap by investigating the interplay between sustainability and physicalization practices. We conducted interviews with experts from diverse backgrounds, followed by a survey to gather insights into how they approach physicalization projects and reflect on sustainability. Our thematic analysis revealed sustainability considerations throughout the entire physicalization life cycle—a framework that encompasses various stages in a physicalization’s existence. Notably, we found no single agreed-upon definition for sustainable physicalizations, highlighting the complexity of integrating sustainability into physicalization practices. We outline sustainability challenges and strategies based on participants’ experiences and propose the Sustainable Physicalization Practices (SuPPra) Matrix, providing a structured approach for designers to reflect on and enhance the environmental impact of their future physicalizations.

Against the backdrop of a climate crisis, HCI researchers and designers are reflecting upon, reconsidering, and re-imagining the work that we do through the lens of sustainability. In this Studio, we propose to adopt this critical perspective to Sustainable HCI through an examination and reflection on the environmental impact of research conferences. Our Studio builds upon our prior work that explored sustainable methods and toolkits for facilitating data physicalization workshops. We apply the tools and strategies developed through this prior work within a Studio in which participants are facilitated to engage with, reflect upon, and create with data relating to the sustainability of HCI conferences such as Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI). Through the creation of data artefacts that can be displayed, worn, or shared throughout the conference beyond the Studio, we aim to spark wider conversations about the environmental sustainability of TEI2024, as well as HCI conferences more generally.

Materials play an influential role in determining the way people interact with and experience objects. This impact is particularly important to TUI designers, as the artefacts they design often afford grasping and physical manipulation. As the ACM Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction moves through its second decade, we sought to survey past proceedings to present a picture of the material choices for TUI design. In this paper we present an exhaustive survey of these proceedings and discuss insights revealed on TUI material trends. Our findings include highlighting the most popular materials choices, as well as the high percentage of materials that have only been used once throughout the years. Furthermore, we make recommendations on the future use of, and reporting on materials choice for TUI design and point toward future work that is needed to fully map the material landscape of TUIs.

This paper presents an overview of the research that I have conducted as part of my PhD studies. The aim of this research is to explore the potential of data physicalization to enhance and improve STEM learning. Specifically, this research is focused on exploring the ways in which physical data representations can be used to clarify dense scientific, technological, engineering or mathematical concepts, and support novel interactions to increase user engagement and learning. My aim is to achieve this through the design, deployment and evaluation of a series of data physicalizations representing STEM concepts and data sets.