The document outlines Benjamin Leduc-Mills' proposal for designing tangible input devices to facilitate 3D design and digital fabrication for children ages 11-14. The proposed work involves developing two tangible user interfaces called SnapCAD and PopCAD and evaluating them through user studies. SnapCAD is an updated version of the UCube device and allows multi-color 3D modeling. PopCAD is a smaller, portable, paper-based device. The goal is to draw on theories of embodied cognition and provide scaffolded learning experiences for 3D modeling and printing.

1. Tangible Input Devices
for Digital Fabrication
Benjamin A. Leduc-Mills
Proposal Defense
October 3, 2013

2. Roadmap
 Background & Motivation
 Related Work
 Current State of Affairs
 Proposed Work
 Risks, Limitations, and Outcomes

3. The Era of Personal Fabrication
 Gershenfeld and Anderson
 Unprecedented ability for individuals to manufacture on
a small scale
 3D printing a major focus

4. 3D Printing and Children
 3D printing is permeating educational spaces and can
be a tool for learning
 Support for novice designers can be better – download &
print is not meaningful
 Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) informed by embodied
cognition and constructionist traditions is a promising
avenue for research

5. Goals
 Design a class of TUIs that facilitate exploration, play, and
design for 3D printers.
 Draw on the history of tangible learning tools and
embodied cognition to situate and inform the TUI designs
 Evaluate the TUIs to gauge usability and learning
potential among tweens and young teens (11-14)

6. Related Work: Major Themes
 “Things to Learn With” – educational objects
 Embodied Cognition – a body-centric view of cognitive
development
 Embodied Interfaces – „smart‟ tangible devices, that
combine ideas from both

7. Related Work: Educational Objects
 Froebel‟s Gifts
 Montessori Manipulatives
 Piaget‟s Genetic Epistemology
 Papert & Computational Constructionism

8. Related Work: Embodied Cognition
 Cognitive processes are „deeply rooted‟ in physical
interactions (e.g. learning readiness by hand gesture)
 Embodied Mathematics – collection, construction, stick
manipulations, walking along a path
 Embodied Design – encouraging thinking through doing

9. Related Work: Embodied Interfaces
 Tangibles + Embodied Cognition = Embodied Interfaces
 Digital Manipulatives (Resnick)
 Tangible Bits (Ishii)
 Embodied Design (Klemmer et al., Antle)

10. Related Work: Approaches
 Modeling Tools
 „Smart‟ Blocks
 Interactive Fabrication Tools
 3D Printing

11. Modeling Tools
HyperGami & Topobo

12. „Smart‟ Blocks
RoBlocks & Activecube

13. Interactive Fabrication
Shaper & Constructable

14. 3D Printing
KidCAD & Easigami

15. Current Status
(AKA the work I‟ve already done)

16. UCube (v1): Hardware
Grid, Tower, and Switch
paradigm
4x4x4 Input Space (64
possible points)
System state sent to a
software program

17. UCube: Software
Real-time representation
Interpretation of input:
convex hull, knot/path
„Edit‟ mode for convex
hull
Export to .STL
Save, Load, Spline,
Wireframe

18. UCube: Study 1
14 Participants – 5 girls, 9
boys
5 groups of 2, 1 group of 4
Screen-based modeling
tasks – side by side
screens, one live, one
target shape
5 target shapes: straight
vertical line, diagonal
line, a cube, a triangular
prism, and an irregular
polyhedron

19. UCube: Study 1 Results
4 groups (including the
group of four) completed
all the shapes
1 group ran out of time
after 3 shapes
1 group modeled 1 shape
Sessions lasted 17-30
minutes
24/30 tasks successful – 80%

20. UCube: Study 2
10 participants: 8 boys, 2 girls
2 exercises: modeling &
matching
9 shapes, cube in each (10 tasks)
Modeling: model on UCube from
3D-printed models
Progression from
memory, holding shape, using
software
Matching: given a set of lights on
the UCube, choose the correct
3D-printed model out of a set

21. Study 2 Results: Modeling
Five shapes: cube, a
tetrahedron, a diamond, a house
(a cube with a pyramid on
top), and an irregular polyhedron
• 21 of 50 from memory
• 12 of 50 holding model
• 8 of 50 with software
Total = 41/50 or 82%
Of 9 misses, 7 were irregular
polygon
Remaining misses both from
same participant (the youngest)

22. Study 2 Results: Matching
Of 50 matching tasks, 0
objects were chosen
incorrectly
Most matches were
completed in 20 seconds or
less

23. SnapCAD: Hardware
Formerly UCube v2
7x7x7 input space (343
points)
Removable magnetic LED
boards – multiple
colors, multiple
shapes, multi-player games
More robust, studier design
Bigger, more
immersive, more
embodied?

24. SnapCAD: Software
Multiple colors of convex
hull
3D Tic-Tac-Toe
implementation
Minimal Spanning Tree
(MST) mode
Edit mode for path & MST
Width slider for path & MST
All exportable to .STL

25. PopCAD
Pop-Up Book, paper-
friendly electronics
Lighter, Cheaper, Portable
3x3x3 input space –
27 input points
Capacitive switches toggle
LEDs on and off
Software has been
adapted for PopCAD

26. Proposed Work
Technical Additions

27. SnapCAD
Focus on multi-shape and mutli-
player capabilities
Colors++, Avoid Red+Green
Explore 2-shape modeling
operations –
union, difference, intersection
Two shapes occupying the same
point
Other modeling modes - Curves?
Voronoi mesh? Recursion?
2 paths, 2 minimal spanning trees

28. PopCAD
Exploration of paper as
material – can paper
mechanisms give rise to new
modeling operations?
Embedding new sensors
Multiple, networked, pop-up
books? Gives rise to other
kinds of
cooperative/competitive
operations
Redesign – switch
placement, tower
spacing, paper choice, origin
marker

29. Proposed Work
User Studies

30. User Study 1: SnapCAD
 12-30 Participants, 11-14
years old
 6 exercises: hull
modeling, path
modeling, mst modeling, 2
hull modeling, 3D tic-tic-
toe, „freehand‟ activity
 Hull, path, mst – brief
demo, then 3 modeling tasks
from 3D-printed models
 2 hull – model from side-by-
side screen comparison (x3)
 Tic-Tac-Toe – 3 games
 Freehand exercise to gauge
expressiveness, desired
capabilities
 Measure successful
completion (or lack
thereof), time to
completion, and
observational notes
 User instructed to think aloud
 Audio, Video, and screen
capture for additional
analysis

31. User Study 2: PopCAD
 10-15 Participants, 11-14
years old
 3 modeling exercises plus
freehand activity
 Convex hull, path, minimal
spanning tree
 5 3D-printed shapes for
each mode
 Measure successful
completion (or lack
thereof), time to
completion, and
observational notes
 Track new vs. overlapping
participants
 User to think aloud
 Photography and Screen
Capture for further analysis

32. Timeline
Task Timeline Notes
User Study Logistics Sept-Oct IRB & Site Approval
Technical Additions Sept-Oct As Outlined in Proposed Work
Conduct User Studies Nov-Jan SnapCAD & PopCAD Studies
Write Up Results Feb-March Analyze & Write Up Data
Write Dissertation April-June Put it all together
Defend Dissertation June Defend

33. Risks
 These are unproven interfaces – may be completely
unsuitable
 May be useable, but viscerally unappealing to target
group
 Practical roadblocks: device malfunction, loss of study
data, lack of sufficient participants

34. Limitations
 Many modeling operations are impossible
(curves, scaling, extrusion, etc.)
 Not a catch-all or professional solution, but a part of an
„ecosystem‟ of next generation fabrication tools
 Learning outcomes are not truly being measured, merely
hinted at through the related literature and the user
studies

35. Outcomes
 Argue convincingly that embodied + tangible devices
can aid in modeling for 3D printing
 Suggest scaffolding of mathematical and spatial
reasoning skills
 Make comparisons between devices, modeling modes,
tasks

36. Conclusions
 A novel body of work: 3 devices, 4 user studies
 Significant contribution that is timely and important
 A path for future research on embodied devices for
digital fabrication

37. Thank You
Questions?

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