SensorBricks: a Collaborative Tangible Sensor Toolkit to Support the Development of Data Literacy

Abstract

Data is often inaccessible for non-expert users, leading to a lack of data transparency and speculation in the understanding and interpretation of data, not providing personal value to individuals. The SensorBricks toolkit was evaluated during 5 workshops (N = 20) to learn how an IoT toolkit can support the development of data literacy. The SensorBricks toolkit introduced data to individuals in a fun, accessible and easy way, creating a low boundary for users to interact with data, sensors and output modalities. The toolkit helped individuals to reflect on the role of data in their environment. The collaborative aspect gave individuals the option to discuss the data and learn from each other's experiences helping users to create a meaningful interpretation and shared understanding of sensor data. The combined digital and data physicalization data representation gives individuals both awareness and in-detail information, creating an understandable and informative way of presenting data.