Embodied Material Guidance: Augmenting Material for Carving

When learning a new skill, video tutorials are often the first choice to get help. For creative domains like carving, this is often not sufficient as the desired expression require reacting on changes in the form constantly. A crucial part of the making process is a close observation of the material. Looking at various domains we have chosen wood carving, to propose new forms of interactions that can support creative learning processes. Instead of focusing on tools we aim to augment the material for the novice carver. The concept aims to reduce the fear of learning by replacing traditional carving material (like wood) with 3D printed material. Guides on where to carve are part of the printed base material and form embodied guidance. We assume artistic self expression as an additional goal for carving and provide added levels of randomness to the material structure through variable colors and material densities while using Virtual Reality (VR) to provide a change in perspective.