Robots That Move Data Around Make Spreadsheets Easier to Understand
Researchers built a tabletop system where small robot carts physically move to represent data points, helping people explore information faster and remember spatial patterns better than touchscreens. The finding suggests physical, tangible interfaces could improve how organizations visualize and interact with complex datasets—potentially reshaping workplace tools for analytics and decision-making.
Originaltitel: MarioChart: Autonomous Tangibles as Active Proxy Interfaces for Embodied Casual Data Exploration
<p>We introduce the notion of an Active Proxy interface, i.e. tangible models as proxies for physical data referents, supporting interactive exploration of data through active manipulation. We realise an active proxy data visualisation system, âMarioChart", using robot carts relocating themselves on a tabletop, e.g., to align with their data referents in a map or other visual layout. We consider a casual-data exploration scenario involving a multivariate campus sustainability dataset, using scale models as proxies for their physical building data referents. Our empirical study (n=12) compares active proxy use with conventional tablet interaction, finding that our active proxy system enhances short-term spatial memory of data and enables faster completion of certain data analytic tasks. It shows no significant differences compared to traditional touchscreens in long-term memory, physical fatigue, mental workload, or user engagement. Our study offers an initial baseline for active proxy techniques and advances understanding of tangible interfaces in situated data visualisation., booktitle = Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, articleno = 1184, numpages = 20, keywords = tangible interaction, situated visualisation, proxsituated visualisation, active proxy, data exploration, location = , series = CHI ’26</p>