by cornelia.wysoudil -

#15 Building a pocket sized tactile flood map

Three cups of coffee, an A4 sheet of foam board, and a stack of scavenged textures later, I finally have a first physical model of flood risk in the Tulln area. It is rough, flimsy in places, and already shedding, but it’s also the most concrete (and tactile!) expression of my idea so far.

Choosing “A4” over “A-Lot”

I promised myself to work small this time. An ~A4 footprint forces ruthless simplification:

  • Only the Danube’s immediate floodplain.
  • No elevation gain because there is almost none in that area.
  • 2 flood scenario (HQ 30 & HQ 100).

That constraint kept the materials list tight and the cutting tolerable with a hobby knife.

Thirty-Minute Build

  1. Print → Trace → Cheat Printer died, so I traced the WISA map contours right off my screen onto scrap paper, then onto materials—eyeballing when necessary.
  2. Knife workQuick, approximate cuts of cardboard, cork, felt, and foam.
  3. Base & WaterCraft-foam ribbon for the Danube; its cool, slick surface instantly stands out.
  4. Land UsesFelt for green, cork for sealed areas. Simple rectangles keep the skyline abstract.
  5. Flood OverlaysRough side of each sponge = HQ 30; soft cellulose side = HQ 100. Cut to match the WISA outlines and glued as over-lays.

Total build time: ~30 minutes.

First Blind Pass

With eyes closed I traced from river outward:

  • Foam river – instantly identifiable.
  • Rough sponge – HQ 30; its grit jolts the fingertip.
  • Soft sponge – HQ 100; squishy, cooler, clearly distinct.
  • Felt – forgiving, farmland vibe.
  • Cork – rigid and grainy; screams “built-up.”
  • Cardboard steps – subtle, but enough curb-height to prove the land does rise.

What I Learned

  • At A4 scale every millimetre matters. Flood zones have to be chunky enough to feel but not so thick they dwarf the elevation logic.
  • Textures communicate hierarchy if the height difference is consistent. Soft-but-low worked only when the sponge sat at the same level as the surrounding terrain.
  • Material memory is powerful. Sandpaper felt “urban” without explanation, reaffirming research on intuitive texture cues.

Further thoughts

  1. Movable Sponge OverlaysCut each HQ zone as a separate, magnet-backed piece. Users can lift, align, or stack them to see extent differences.
  2. Sliding FilmPrint HQ 30 and HQ 100 outlines on transparent acetate (raised ink or puff-paint). Slide the film over the base map; tactile bumps show where water spreads further.
  3. Stackable “Risk Chips”Punch small, uniform discs out of sponge: light-touch discs for HQ 100, rough discs for HQ 30. Drop them into a recessed Danube channel to build a tactile bar-chart of depth along chosen transects.
  4. Add a braille / raised-symbol legend to the bottom edge.
  5. Run a short thinking-aloud test with at least three users, including one low-vision participant.
by cornelia.wysoudil -

#11 Prototyping – Trial and Error

Prototyping Multisensory Data – From Spaghetti Mountains to Shadowed Insights

The task was to create three quick lo-fi prototypes related to our Master’s research—ideally 5–10 minutes each, with a maximum of 20. The goal was to sketch out ideas, test tangible concepts, and move away from screen-based representations. I managed to create two prototypes. Neither went exactly as planned—but both taught me something valuable.

Prototype #1 – The Spaghetti Schlossberg

For this prototype, I attempted to reconstruct the topography of Graz’s Schlossberg using spaghetti. I had a map with Höhenlinien (contour lines) and snapped pieces of spaghetti to match the elevation levels. The plan was to poke them through holes in a cardboard base to create a physical, touchable model of the hill.

The idea:

To offer a tactile experience of elevation, allowing users to feel the form of the mountain. My long-term vision included vibration feedback: depending on which level the user touches, the surface could respond with different intensities or patterns of vibration—giving sensory feedback about height, slope, or perhaps historical or environmental data.

What didn’t work:

  • The holes had to be the exact right size—too big, and the spaghetti would fall through; too small, and it would snap trying to insert it.
  • The spaghetti broke. A lot.
  • I only managed about half the model before deciding to stop.

What I learned:

  • Spaghetti is a fragile material—not ideal for tactile prototyping.
  • Still, the concept of a vibrotactile elevation model is worth pursuing, maybe with more durable materials like wires, foam, or layered acrylic.
  • There’s something powerful about physically feeling data—especially when it’s enhanced with feedback.

Prototype #2 – The Cardboard Box of Shadows

This idea was more experimental. I took a cardboard box, cut one side open, and inserted a slot for sliding a sheet of paper inside. I placed a light behind it, allowing shadows to appear on the back wall of the box.

The idea:

To explore how data can be made visible through shadows—revealing patterns not through direct representation, but through effect and contrast. Initially abstract, the idea grew into something more tactile and layered.

I then thought: what if you could slide two pieces of paper inside the box—each with different shapes, data patterns, or cutouts? Their overlapping shadows would form a dynamic visual, representing the interaction between two datasets.

What this could evolve into:

  • A lo-fi ambient display where the position and layering of paper affects the final output.
  • A metaphor for data complexity—how meaning emerges not from a single source, but from relationships, intersections, and light.

What I learned:

  • Sometimes we build without a clear purpose, and ideas emerge through doing.
  • Light and layering can be compelling tools in multisensory data design—especially when paired with motion, tactility, or time-based changes.

Reflections

These fast prototypes pushed me to translate data into form—without overthinking or refining too early. Both attempts reminded me that multisensory design is not about perfection—it’s about perception. What does data feel like? Sound like? Look like when it hides, flickers, or resists being seen?

Even though I didn’t finish all three, I left with two ideas I might revisit, refine, or completely rethink—successes in their own right.