Reconfigurable physical interfaces allow users to quickly customize them to meet specific needs or preferences without the need for costly refabrication or part replacements. This paper introduces a reversible shape-changing mechanism for 3D printed structures that uses translations and rotations of parts, facilitated by magnets and the thermoplastic properties of heated polymer. These tangible interfaces provide precise haptic feedback and adaptable user interactions through reconfigurable input motions. The design space is explored and demonstrated in applications such as rehabilitation, communication, accessibility, safety, and gaming.
Himani Deshpande, Bo Han, Kongpyung (Justin) Moon, Andrea Bianchi, Clement Zheng, and Jeeeun Kim. 2024. Reconfigurable Interfaces by Shape Change and Embedded Magnets. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ‘24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 325, 1–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642802