Knitting Interactive Spaces: Fabricating Data Physicalizations of Local Community Visitors with Circular Knitting Machines
Lee Jones, Greta Grip, Boris Kourtoukov, Varvara Guljajeva, Mar Canet Solà, Sara Nabil · 2024
Innovations in digital fabrication technologies are increasingly enabling artists and designers to create data physicalizations in real time. In this paper, we discuss how we adapted a circular knitting machine to physicalize visitors at a local art gallery during the pandemic recovery year. To evaluate this year-long installation, we conducted design critiques with 15 individuals including those who worked in the building and lived alongside it for a year, as well as subject matter experts. We then iteratively worked with 11 of those individuals to gain insights for re-deploying the visualization for interpretation. Overall, this paper contributes long-term reflections and recommendations for using digital fabrication for real-time data physicalizations.