research-article

VirtualComponent: A Mixed-Reality Tool for Designing and Tuning Breadboarded Circuits

Authors:

Youngkyung Choi,

Andrea BianchiAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '19: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Paper No.: 177, Pages 1 - 13

https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300407

Published: 02 May 2019 Publication History

Abstract

Prototyping electronic circuits is an increasingly popular activity, supported by researchers, who develop toolkits to improve the design, debugging, and fabrication of electronics. Although past work mainly dealt with circuit topology, in this paper we propose a system for determining or tuning the values of the circuit components. Based on the results of a formative study with seventeen makers, we designed VirtualComponent, a mixed-reality tool that allows users to digitally place electronic components on a real breadboard, tune their values in software, and see these changes applied to the physical circuit in real-time. VirtualComponent is composed of a set of plug-and-play modules containing banks of components, and a custom breadboard managing the connections and components' values. Through demonstrations and the results of an informal study with twelve makers, we show that VirtualComponent is easy to use and allows users to test components' value configurations with little effort.

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Cited By

Lima ATrevisan D(2024)Challenges and Opportunities in Using Electronic Prototyping as a Maker ToolProceedings of the XXIII Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3702038.3702092(1-15)Online publication date: 7-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3702038.3702092
Bianchi AYap ZLertjaturaphat PHenley AMoon KKim Y(2024)Inline Visualization and Manipulation of Real-Time Hardware Log for Supporting Debugging of Embedded ProgramsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36602508:EICS(1-26)Online publication date: 17-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3660250
Hanton OFraser MRoudaut A(2024)DisplayFab: The State of the Art and a Roadmap in the Personal Fabrication of Free-Form Displays Using Active Materials and Additive Manufacturing.Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642708(1-24)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642708
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

VirtualComponent: A Mixed-Reality Tool for Designing and Tuning Breadboarded Circuits
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
    1. Interaction paradigms

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cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '19: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

May 2019

9077 pages

ISBN:9781450359702

DOI:10.1145/3290605

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Stephen Brewster
University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK
,
Geraldine Fitzpatrick
TU Wien, Austria
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Anna Cox
University College London, UK
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Vassilis Kostakos
University of Melbourne, Australia

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Published: 02 May 2019

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Cited By

Lima ATrevisan D(2024)Challenges and Opportunities in Using Electronic Prototyping as a Maker ToolProceedings of the XXIII Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3702038.3702092(1-15)Online publication date: 7-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3702038.3702092
Bianchi AYap ZLertjaturaphat PHenley AMoon KKim Y(2024)Inline Visualization and Manipulation of Real-Time Hardware Log for Supporting Debugging of Embedded ProgramsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36602508:EICS(1-26)Online publication date: 17-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3660250
Hanton OFraser MRoudaut A(2024)DisplayFab: The State of the Art and a Roadmap in the Personal Fabrication of Free-Form Displays Using Active Materials and Additive Manufacturing.Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642708(1-24)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642708
Lambrichts MRamakers RHodges SDevine JUnderwood LFinney J(2023)CircuitGlueProceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies10.1145/35962657:2(1-30)Online publication date: 12-Jun-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3596265
Turakhia DLudgin DMueller SDesportes K(2023)What Can We Learn From Educators About Teaching in Makerspaces?Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544549.3585687(1-7)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544549.3585687
Bianchi AHodges SCuartielles DOh HLambrichts MRoudaut A(2023)Beyond prototyping boards: future paradigms for electronics toolkitsExtended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544549.3573792(1-6)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544549.3573792
Jeong YCho HKim TNam T(2023)AutomataStage: an AR-mediated Creativity Support Tool for Hands-on Multidisciplinary LearningProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581408(1-16)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544548.3581408
Turakhia DLudgin DMueller SDesportes K(2023)Understanding the educators’ practices in makerspaces for the design of education toolsEducational technology research and development10.1007/s11423-023-10305-172:1(329-358)Online publication date: 27-Nov-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-023-10305-1
Kim YZhu JTrivedi MTurakhia DWu NKo DWessely MMueller S(2022)SensorViz: Visualizing Sensor Data Across Different Stages of Prototyping Interactive ObjectsProceedings of the 2022 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3532106.3533481(987-1001)Online publication date: 13-Jun-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3532106.3533481
Alalawi MWong B(2022)LeviCircuits: Adhoc Electrical Circuit Prototyping using Ultrasound LevitationAdjunct Proceedings of the 35th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology10.1145/3526114.3561352(1-3)Online publication date: 29-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3526114.3561352
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