Tangible Formations

2017

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University of Stuttgart

ITECH M.Sc. Thesis Project 2017

Students: Kyriaki Goti and Shir Katz

Tangible Formations: Intuitive Design and Fabrication Process Through Real-Time Human-Computer Interaction

Description

This thesis examines the potential of using tangible interfaces and sensor feedback to develop an intuitive design and construction process utilizing granular jamming. By taking advantage of the variable stiffness of granular jamming over time, an adaptive fabrication process is enabled, in which a user can easily and quickly create various design combinations by forming individual jammed units which weave or interlock into an overall system. Throughout the design process, an interface guides the user’s design decisions and operations based on predesigned formal and tectonic strategies from a background computational process and library. By recording and storing the formations that multiple users produce over time, this computational background library expands and learns from the successes and failures of previous iterations, ultimately developing a robust and open-end design and construction strategy for granular jamming.