Sensing Kirigami

Paper is a modest material with rich affordances for craft and design. It can be shaped into delicate objects that move with the slightest touch; or constructed into robust structures that support a building. We were attracted to the qualities of paper for facilitating tangible interactions and were particularly curious about kirigami (切り紙): a Japanese term we borrow to describe cutting, folding and bending flat sheets of paper into three-dimensional forms. Kirigami enables us to shape paper into pliable structures that move dynamically to afford tangible interactions.

We investigated the properties of carbon-coated paper, an electrically resistive material. This material is affected by folding and bending—two essential building blocks of kirigami objects. From this investigation, we developed a range of paper objects that facilitate tangible interaction.

Authors
Clement Zheng
Hyunjoo Oh
Laura Devendorf
Ellen Yi-Luen Do

DIS 2019 (best pictorial)

Paper

Laser cutting is used to etch electrical traces onto the material. The final pattern is then cut and assembled into a three dimensional structure.

Sample applications: interactive paper push-buttons, interactive paper lampshade.