3D Printing Locally Activated Visual-Displays Embedded in 3D Objects via Electrically Conductive and Thermochromic Materials

Kongpyung (Justin) Moon, Zofia Marciniak, Ryo Suzuki, Andrea Bianchi  

The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2024)

Links:     PDF   Poster   Slide   Video   30s Video   GitHub   ACM DL   IEEE   arXiv   Talk

Abstract

3D printed displays promise to create unique visual interfaces for physical objects. However, current methods for creating 3D printed displays either require specialized post-fabrication processes (e.g., electroluminescence spray and silicon casting) or function as pas- sive elements that simply react to environmental factors (e.g., body and air temperature). These passive displays offer limited control over when, where, and how the colors change. In this paper, we introduce ThermoPixels, a method for designing and 3D printing actively controlled and visually rich thermochromic displays that can be embedded in arbitrary geometries. We investigate the color- changing and thermal properties of thermochromic and conductive filaments. Based on these insights, we designed ThermoPixels and an accompanying software tool that allows embedding ThermoPix- els in arbitrary 3D geometries, creating displays of various shapes and sizes (flat, curved, or matrix displays) or displays that embed textures, multiple colors, or that are flexible.

Publication

Slide

coming soon