CANBERRA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Researchers in Australia have developed an innovative wearable glove that uses heat and touch to allow users to physically experience personal data, offering an alternative to traditional screen-based visualisation.
The prototype, called ThermoPhy, developed by Adelaide University's Australian Research Center for Interactive and Virtual Environments (IVE), offers a fundamentally different way of engaging with data, according to a university statement released on Thursday.
The device combines tiny heating elements in the fingers with attachable 3D-printed tokens on its exterior to represent data through "carefully controlled thermal sensations" and familiar visualizations such as bar charts, line graphs and heatmaps, the statement said.
IVE lecturer Adam Drogemuller said the glove aims to make data more "personal and embodied" using physical sensations such as warmth, adding that thermal feedback is uniquely private as only the wearer can feel it.
Researchers said it could be useful for representing sensitive or emotional information, including human-centered data such as mood, stress, wellbeing and personal experiences.
In one example, physical bars can show sleep duration, while heat reflects mood on waking. Another use maps crowding, with higher temperatures indicating greater discomfort.
The team said the technology could support empathy, allowing others to wear the glove to experience another person's data, building on "data humanism," which makes data more relatable through physical interaction and storytelling.
The affordable prototype costs about 28 Australian dollars (about 19.68 U.S. dollars) in components, the researchers said, adding that future research will explore how users interpret thermal feedback and how the technology could integrate with emerging tools such as augmented reality. ■
