Sensing Kirigami, 2018-2019

Clement Zheng, HyunJoo Oh, Laura Devendorf, Ellen Yi-Luen Do

DIS 2019 [Best Paper Award]: DOI PDF

Paper is a modest material with rich affordances for craft and design. Paper comes in many different compositions. It can be shaped into delicate objects that move with the slightest touch; or constructed into robust structures that support a building. In this project, we are particularly curious about kirigami: 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 affected by folding and bending—essential building blocks of kirigami objects. The insights gained were harnessed to inform three design propositions—tangible interfaces that range from part to product.