Interaction is critical for data analysis and sensemaking. However, designing interactive physicalizations is challenging as it requires cross-disciplinary knowledge in visualization, fabrication, and electronics. Interactive physicalizations are typically produced in an unstructured manner, resulting in unique solutions for a specific dataset, problem, or interaction that cannot be easily extended or adapted to new scenarios or future physicalizations. To mitigate these challenges, we introduce a computational design pipeline to 3D print network physicalizations with integrated sensing capabilities. Networks are ubiquitous, yet their complex geometry also requires significant engineering considerations to provide intuitive, effective interactions for exploration. Using our pipeline, designers can readily produce network physicalizations supporting selection-the most critical atomic operation for interaction-by touch through capacitive sensing and computational inference. Our computational design pipeline introduces a new design paradigm by concurrently considering the form and interactivity of a physicalization into one cohesive fabrication workflow. We evaluate our approach using (i) computational evaluations, (ii) three usage scenarios focusing on general visualization tasks, and (iii) expert interviews. The design paradigm introduced by our pipeline can lower barriers to physicalization research, creation, and adoption.

翻译：交互对于数据分析和意义构建至关重要。然而，设计交互式物理化面临挑战，因为它需要可视化、制造和电子学等多学科知识。交互式物理化通常以非结构化方式生产，导致针对特定数据集、问题或交互的独特解决方案难以轻易扩展或适应新场景或未来的物理化。为缓解这些挑战，我们引入了一个计算设计流程，用于3D打印集成传感能力的网络物理化。网络无处不在，但其复杂几何结构同样需要大量工程考量，以便为探索提供直观、有效的交互。利用我们的流程，设计者可以轻松生成支持选择（通过电容传感和计算推理实现触摸交互的最关键原子操作）的网络物理化。我们的计算设计流程通过将物理化的形态与交互性整合到一个统一的制造工作流中，引入了新的设计范式。我们通过（i）计算评估、（ii）聚焦于通用可视化任务的三个使用场景，以及（iii）专家访谈来评估我们的方法。我们的流程所引入的设计范式能够降低物理化研究、创造和采用的门槛。