Abstract

The Health Column is a tangible interface used as a comprehensive representation of bodily health. The Health Column is produced from sensor data gathered from various systems of the human body and aligns the output of this data into a form that can be held and explored as a whole or can be examined one system at a time. An ideal context for the Health Column would be to 3D print the form from data taken after a complete physical exam at a doctor’s office.

This tangible record of health promotes the act of somatic tracking, or the use of one’s senses to become more conscious of one’s own body, and when taken into the home could remind the patient of his/her current physical condition. As the health data is embedded in the form itself, the Health Column could also be used as a medical record which could be scanned to retrieve the data at any institution. Overall, the concept of such a device questions how data and tangible interfaces could be used as tools in the field of medicine for patients to gain a more active role in monitoring their own health and in their relationships with their doctor.