research-article

Kinetic Blocks: Actuated Constructive Assembly for Interaction and Display

Authors:

Philipp Schoessler,

Daniel Windham,

Daniel Leithinger,

Hiroshi IshiiAuthors Info & Claims

UIST '15: Proceedings of the 28th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software & Technology

Pages 341 - 349

https://doi.org/10.1145/2807442.2807453

Published: 05 November 2015 Publication History

Abstract

Pin-based shape displays not only give physical form to digital information, they have the inherent ability to accurately move and manipulate objects placed on top of them. In this paper we focus on such object manipulation: we present ideas and techniques that use the underlying shape change to give kinetic ability to otherwise inanimate objects. First, we describe the shape display's ability to assemble, disassemble, and reassemble structures from simple passive building blocks through stacking, scaffolding, and catapulting. A technical evaluation demonstrates the reliability of the presented techniques. Second, we introduce special kinematic blocks that are actuated and sensed through the underlying pins. These blocks translate vertical pin movements into other degrees of freedom like rotation or horizontal movement. This interplay of the shape display with objects on its surface allows us to render otherwise inaccessible forms, like overhangs, and enables richer input and output.

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Cited By

Wu QLi JSeifi HHornbæk K(2025)Vipins: Combining a pin array and vibrotactile actuators to render complex shapes and texturesInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103464197(103464)Online publication date: Mar-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103464
Kedwan F(2024)Intermolecular Forces in a Physical Molecular Visualization System: A Human-Computer Interaction ApplicationEuropean Journal of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology10.59324/ejaset.2024.2(2).142:2(212-223)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2024
https://doi.org/10.59324/ejaset.2024.2(2).14
Kedwan F(2024)Intermolecular Forces in a Physical Molecular Visualization System: A Human-Computer Interaction ApplicationSSRN Electronic Journal10.2139/ssrn.4840189Online publication date: 2024
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4840189
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Kinetic Blocks: Actuated Constructive Assembly for Interaction and Display
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Interaction devices
      1. Haptic devices
    2. Interaction paradigms

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cover image ACM Conferences

UIST '15: Proceedings of the 28th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software & Technology

November 2015

686 pages

ISBN:9781450337793

DOI:10.1145/2807442

General Chair:
Celine Latulipe
UNC Charlotte, USA
,
Program Chairs:
Bjoern Hartmann
UC Berkeley, USA
,
Tovi Grossman
Autodesk Research, Canada

Copyright © 2015 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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Published: 05 November 2015

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UIST '15

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UIST '15: The 28th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology

November 11 - 15, 2015

NC, Charlotte, USA

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UIST '15 Paper Acceptance Rate 70 of 297 submissions, 24%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 561 of 2,567 submissions, 22%

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The 38th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology

September 28 - October 1, 2025

Busan , Republic of Korea

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Cited By

Wu QLi JSeifi HHornbæk K(2025)Vipins: Combining a pin array and vibrotactile actuators to render complex shapes and texturesInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103464197(103464)Online publication date: Mar-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103464
Kedwan F(2024)Intermolecular Forces in a Physical Molecular Visualization System: A Human-Computer Interaction ApplicationEuropean Journal of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology10.59324/ejaset.2024.2(2).142:2(212-223)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2024
https://doi.org/10.59324/ejaset.2024.2(2).14
Kedwan F(2024)Intermolecular Forces in a Physical Molecular Visualization System: A Human-Computer Interaction ApplicationSSRN Electronic Journal10.2139/ssrn.4840189Online publication date: 2024
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4840189
Tanaka KOkafuji YIwamoto T(2024)Popping-Up Poster: A Pin-Based Promotional Poster Device for Engaging Customers through Physical Shape TransformationProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36981388:ISS(283-300)Online publication date: 24-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3698138
Chafik AGaber JTayane SEnnaji MBourgeois JGhazawi T(2024)From Conventional to Programmable Matter Systems: A Review of Design, Materials, and TechnologiesACM Computing Surveys10.1145/365367156:8(1-26)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3653671
Wang KWang ZNakagaki KPerlin K(2024)“Push-That-There”: Tabletop Multi-robot Object Manipulation via Multimodal 'Object-level Instruction'Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3661542(2497-2513)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3643834.3661542
Liu QGhodrat SJansen KCiolfi LHogan TDöring TJenkins Tvan Dijk JHuron SLi ZCoyle DSigner B(2024)Mimosa: Modular Self-folding Hinges Kit for Creating Shape-changing ObjectsProceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction10.1145/3623509.3633381(1-13)Online publication date: 11-Feb-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3623509.3633381
Yasu K(2024)MagneSwift: Low-Cost, Interactive Shape Display Leveraging Magnetic MaterialsProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642058(1-11)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642058
Valdivia ARezqalla MSwann SBlumenschein L(2024)Soft Growing Pin for High-Extension Shape-Changing Displays2024 IEEE 7th International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)10.1109/RoboSoft60065.2024.10522001(650-656)Online publication date: 14-Apr-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/RoboSoft60065.2024.10522001
Feick MBiyikli CGani KWittig ATang AKrüger A(2023)VoxelHap: A Toolkit for Constructing Proxies Providing Tactile and Kinesthetic Haptic Feedback in Virtual RealityProceedings of the 36th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology10.1145/3586183.3606722(1-13)Online publication date: 29-Oct-2023
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