Reversed Voodoo Dolls: An exploration of physical visualizations of biological data
Abstract: Physical visualizations are artifacts that materialize abstract data. They take advantage of human natural abilities to interact with information in the physical world. These visualizations present an opportunity to be applied on new application domains. With the objective of discovering if physical visualizations can support remote monitoring of biological data, a technology probe is presented in the form of a reversed voodoo doll. This probe uses the natural affordance of an anthropomorphic figure to represent a person and reverses the concept of voodoo dolls in a playful way. The scenario of safety is selected for testing physical visualizations of bio-data. Two measurements from the human body, heart rate and motion are chosen as a light way to monitor remotely over a person’s conditions. During the study, a group of six participants were exposed to the technology probe and their interactions with it were observed. The study reports on the users’ interpretations of the data and uses given to the alternative modalities of the probe. The results suggest that the data mapping to the object’s body parts was effective for conveying meaning. Additionally, the results confirm that the use of multiple modalities in physical visualizations offers an opportunity to present information in situated contexts in the real world. The degree of physicality achieved by the reversed voodoo doll and the effects of the selected metaphors are discussed. In conclusion, it is argued that the responses and interpretations from the users indicate that the reversed voodoo doll served as a means in its own right to transmit information for monitoring of bio-data.
AT THIS PAGE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE ESSAY. (follow the link to the next page)