Demonstration of Mixels: Fabricating Interfaces using Programmable Magnetic Pixels

In this demonstration, we present Mixels, programmable magnetic pixels that can be rapidly fabricated using an electromagnetic printhead mounted on an of-the-shelve 3D printer. The ability to program a magnetic material pixel-wise with varying magnetic forces enables Mixels to create new tangible, tactile, and haptic interfaces. To facilitate the creation of interactive objects with Mixels, we provide a user interface that lets users specify the high-level magnetic behavior and that then computes the underlying magnetic pixel assignments and fabrication instructions to program the magnetic surface. Our custom hardware add-on based on an electromagnetic printhead clips onto a standard 3D printer and can both write and read magnetic pixel values from magnetic material. Finally, we highlight the importance of fundamental magnet parameters such as coercivity and remanence in designing a magnetic plotter, and show how leveraging 2D plotting enables a number of interactive applications.