Wearable glove turns data into thermal sensations

Adelaide University researchers have developed an innovative wearable glove that uses heat, touch and physical objects to transform data into a sensory experience.

The prototype, called ThermoPhy, was developed as part of a remote internship run by the Australian Research Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments (IVE) at Adelaide University.

Intern Josh Joy, in virtual collaboration with his supervisors, developed a glove that combines wearable technology with data visualisation, allowing users to experience information not just through sight, but through temperature and touch.

IVE lecturer Dr Adam Drogemuller said the wearable glove offers a fundamentally different way of engaging with data.

“Most data today is presented on screens as charts, graphs and numbers,” Drogemuller said. “We wanted to investigate whether data could be experienced in a more personal and embodied way, using physical sensations such as warmth.”

The glove features two complementary displays. On the outside, users can attach small 3D-printed tokens that create physical versions of familiar visualisations such as bar charts, line graphs and heatmaps. On the inside, tiny heating elements wrapped around the fingers generate carefully controlled thermal sensations.

The result is a wearable data display that can communicate information publicly through visible physical structures while simultaneously conveying private information through heat that only the wearer can feel.

“Temperature is unique because it creates a highly personal experience. Unlike information shown on a screen, thermal feedback is only perceived by the person wearing the device, making it potentially useful for representing sensitive or emotional information,” Drogemuller said.

The researchers believe heat could be particularly valuable for communicating human-centred data, such as mood, stress, wellbeing or personal experiences.

For example, a person could use the glove to represent how many hours they slept each night using physical bars, while the heat sensation reflects their mood when they woke up. Another application could show how crowded a workplace or classroom felt, with warmer temperatures indicating higher levels of discomfort. The team also sees potential for the technology to support empathy and shared understanding.

Adelaide University researcher Xiaojiao ‘Lily’ Du said the research builds on the growing movement of “data humanism”, which seeks to make data more relatable and emotionally meaningful.

“Data often becomes abstract and disconnected from human experiences,” she said. “We are interested in ways that bring people back into the process of understanding data through physical interaction, reflection and storytelling.”

The researchers have designed ThermoPhy to be affordable and accessible. The electronic components cost approximately AU$28, making the prototype relatively inexpensive to reproduce for future research and experimentation.

While still in its early stages, the project opens up a new area of exploration for wearable data physicalisation and multi-sensory interfaces. Future work will investigate how people perceive different temperature ranges, how thermal feedback influences interpretation of data, and how the technology could be combined with emerging tools such as augmented reality.

This is a modified version of a news item published by Adelaide University. The original version of the news item can be accessed here.

Image credit: Adelaide University