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"I Can Physically Feel The Difference": Exploring Physicalizations Of Running Data, Zann Benjamin Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

We explore user interactions with concrete physical visualizations—physicalizations—of personal experiential data. We conducted three user studies involving physicalizations of data gathered while trail running—a sport in which participants are largely more focused on the experience than the exercise itself. In two qualitative studies, we asked trail runners to give us a GPS path from a "significant run" and then prepared a 3D physicalization featuring the path overlaid as a raised line on the corresponding real-world terrain. In the first, physicalizations had a significant impact in helping participants recall memories of their experiences, and participants shared many stories. In a follow-up …