Evengy Stemasov, member of the research group human-computer interaction, discusses his PhD thesis project.
His jury will consist of Prof. Dr. Enrico Rukzio (Ulm University, Ulm, Germany), Prof. Dr. Jan Gugenheimer (Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany), Prof. Dr. Daniel Lee Ashbrook (University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark), Prof. Dr. Matthias Tichy (Ulm University, Ulm, Germany), Prof. Dr. Timo Ropinski (Ulm University, Ulm, Germany)
Abstract:
Personal computing has transformed society by providing industry-grade computing capabilities to end-users: complex, expensive, and expert-only mainframes turned into ubiquitous devices essential to a vast user audience. In the context of Personal Fabrication, users recently gained access to industry-level tools and processes (e.g., 3D printing) to design and manufacture various physical artifacts. While computing evolved its interaction paradigms towards more approachable interfaces (i.e., from command lines to graphical user interfaces), Personal Fabrication still enforces a paradigm of ex-situ modeling, fabrication, and iteration until the user achieves a satisfying result. Devices like 3D printers or laser cutters are increasingly easy to use and affordable, yet designing for manufacturing remains a highly complex task: users have to tie together a multitude of disciplines, ranging from engineering over material science to design. Subsequently, Personal Fabrication presents a powerful opportunity, yet it predominantly remains employed by hobbyists and enthusiasts.
This thesis aims to resolve the tensions between potentially highly expressive fabrication (i.e., physical output) devices and the complex design tools (i.e., digital input) they demand—how do we reconcile low-effort interactions with a potentially unlimited physical output space? To answer this question, the thesis first presents a theoretical framework, which encompasses design tools for Personal Fabrication. These tools can be arranged in a process model that covers design, fabrication, and the use of the outcome. The framework focuses on the design step and classifies the effort and expressivity of design tools to formalize three main paradigms of physical artifact design: ``modeling'', ``remixing'', and ``getting''. Most established design tools focus on the ``modeling'' paradigm, where users routinely re-design existing objects on their way to their finished design. This approach demands, often unnecessary, effort. Such design steps are also usually disconnected from the location of use (ex-situ). Users regularly conduct design steps on workstations like desktop computers to design objects for the physical world. This disconnect requires users to transfer requirements between design and usage contexts.
The core of the thesis, therefore, focuses on a) partially or b) entirely omitting or c) fundamentally altering steps of modeling.
These changes are enabled by relying on outsourced design effort and in-situ design tools to foster low-effort interactions. This approach manifests in the development and evaluation of several prototype systems that deliberately rethink the notion of design for Personal Fabrication.
Derived from these works, the thesis provides insights into the design of design tools for Personal Fabrication. By deliberately omitting or reconsidering workflow steps (e.g., 3D modeling), the presented prototype systems reduce the effort needed to design an artifact for manufacturing. This effort reduction is based on design principles contrasting established core paradigms (modeling) and towards in-situ workflows leveraging users' unique physical contexts. Specifically, instead of starting ``from scratch'', users may remix existing models, tune parametric designs, or merely retrieve their desired artifacts. These approaches move processes in Personal Fabrication away from complex but powerful industrial CAD (computer-aided design) systems without constraining their relevant expressivity. Similarly, instead of relegating design processes to a separate workstation, users may conduct search, remix, and preview procedures in-situ at the location of use for the future artifact. In-situ interaction simplifies the transfer of requirements from the physical environment. The paradigms of remixing or getting, blended with in-situ interaction through extended reality, are the core pillars of the thesis.
The thesis concludes by reflecting on the broader vision of ``Ubiquitous Personal Fabrication'', where the notion of digitally-supported craft and manufacturing is woven into everyday life, akin to digital content creation enabled through ubiquitous computing. In this context, we may see a future where anyone can create highly personalized artifacts that suit their unique contextual, aesthetic, and functional needs without precisely defining every single detail of the artifact, empowering a broad range of users, regardless of their motivation and proficiency, to engage in design activities.
We wish him all the best towards a successfull end of this major step in his academic carreer.
