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Developing whole-body tactile skins for robots remains a challenging task, as existing solutions often prioritize modular, one-size-fits-all designs, which, while versatile, fail to account for the robot’s specific shape and the unique demands of its operational context. In this work, we introduce GenTact Toolbox, a computational pipeline for creating versatile wholebody tactile skins tailored to both robot shape and application domain. Our method includes procedural mesh generation for conforming to a robot’s topology, task-driven simulation to refine sensor distribution, and multi-material 3D printing for shape-agnostic fabrication. We validate our approach by creating and deploying six capacitive sensing skins on a Franka Research 3 robot arm in a human-robot interaction scenario. This work represents a shift from “one-size-fits-all” tactile sensors toward context-driven, highly adaptable designs that can be customized for a wide range of robotic systems and applications. The project website is available at https://hiro-group.ronc.one/gentacttoolbox 

Multi-material 3D printing combines the functional properties of different materials (e.g., mechanical, electrical, color) within a single object that is fabricated without manual assembly. However, this presents sustainability challenges as multi-material objects cannot be easily recycled. Because each material has a different processing temperature, considerable effort must be used to separate them for recycling. This paper presents a computational fabrication technique to generate dissolvable interfaces between different materials in a 3D printed object without affecting the object’s intended use. When the interfaces are dissolved, the object is disassembled to enable recycling of the individual materials. We describe the computational design of these interfaces alongside experimental evaluations of their strength and water solubility. Finally, we demonstrate our technique across 9 multi-material 3D printed objects of varying structural and functional complexity. Our technique enables us to recycle 89.97% of the total mass of these objects, promoting greater sustainability in 3D printing. 

The electronics-centered approach to physical computing presents challenges when designers build tangible interactive systems due to its inherent emphasis on circuitry and electronic components. To explore an alternative physical computing approach we have developed a computer vision (CV) based system that uses a webcam, computer, and printed fiducial markers to create functional tangible interfaces. Through a series of design studios, we probed how designers build tangible interfaces with this CV-driven approach. In this paper, we apply the annotated portfolio method to reflect on the fifteen outcomes from these studios. We observed that CV markers offer versatile materiality for tangible interactions, afford the use of democratic materials for interface construction, and engage designers in embodied debugging with their own vision as a proxy for CV. By sharing our insights, we inform other designers and educators who seek alternative ways to facilitate physical computing and tangible interaction design. 

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. 

Data physicalization has emerged as a new method to represent and interact with data physically rather than digitally. Physical representations afford visual analysis in comparable ways to traditional, desktop- based visualization by introducing new capabilities, such as facilitating tactile manipulation, accessible interactions, and immersion, that are beyond traditional 2D visualizations. However, physicalization has historically been a niche aspect of visualization research due to its unique challenges. This work discusses the current challenges and highlights three areas where data physicalization can aid existing research thrusts: broadening participation, supporting analytics, and promoting creative expression.