Turn-by-Wire

TBW

Advances in digital fabrication have simultaneously created new capabilities while reinforcing outdated workflows that constrain how, and by whom, these fabrication tools are used. In this work, we investigate how a new class of hybrid controlled machines can collaborate with novice and expert users alike to yield a more lucid making experience.

We demonstrate these ideas through our system, Turn-by-Wire. By combining the capabilities of a traditional lathe with haptic input controllers that modulate both position and force, we detail a series of novel interaction metaphors that invite a more fluid making process spanning digital, model-centric, computer control, and embodied, adaptive, human control. We evaluate our system through a user study and discuss how these concepts generalize to other fabrication tools.

Collaborators
Vedant Saran, Mareike Kritzler, Florian Michahelles, Eric Paulos

Publication
Turn-by-Wire: Digitally Mediated Physical Fabrication, In the Proceedings of the 32nd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology