This PHD is about design as a tool of interaction based in information systems, allowing not only to understand the relationship of design with the user, as also, based on User Centered Design, to create a methodology that solves real problems derived from its personal needs. In the case study, the work was based on People with Special Needs, which by their limitations spend much of their day sitting and consequently end up suffering from pressure ulcers. From the research methodology resulted an approach that in a first stage relates psychophysical data acquisition and processing derived from information systems, in an approximation to semiotics. In a second stage an application has been developed in LabView for the integration and processing of data relating to acquisition of user data and data regarding the characteristics of materials and prototyping processes. The result is a file that can be interpreted by CAD systems. The third and final phase, based on the interpretation of the data in the CAD system, allows exporting the information to a CAM system and consequently the production of a customized product through rapid manufacturing technology. The work developed resulted in an integrated system called "Core System" divided by modules that allows management of all information in real time regardless of the inputs of each of its sub-modules, allowing each of these changes to be reflected in the final result. The application is the result of research work that relates the different multidisciplinary areas, building, based on correlations and data validation by specialized technicians, information processing models. / Este trabajo aborda el papel como herramienta de interacción basada en los sistemas de información permitiendo no sólo entender mejor la relación del diseño con el usuario y, basándose en el Diseño Centrado en el Usuario, crear una metodología que solucionase problemas reales resultado de una necesidad personal. En el caso de estudio el trabajo se basó en personas con necesidades especiales, que por sus limitaciones pasan gran parte del día sentados, y por eso con el tiempo sufren de úlceras por presión. De la metodología de investigación resultó un enfoque que en una primera etapa relaciona la adquisición y procesamiento de datos psicofísicos en una aproximación a la semiótica partiendo de sistemas de información.

The goal of this investigation was to explore the efficacy of implementing a rehabilitation robot controlled by a noninvasive brain-computer interface (BCI) to influence brain plasticity and facilitate motor learning. The motivation of this project stemmed from the need to address the population of stroke survivors who have few or no options for therapy. A stroke occurs every 40 seconds in the United States and it is the leading cause of long-term disability [1-3]. In a country where the elderly population is growing at an astounding rate, one in six persons above the age of 55 is at risk of having a stroke. Internationally, the rates of strokes and stroke-induced disabilities are comparable to those of the United States [1, 4-6]. Approximately half of all stroke survivors suffer from immediate unilateral paralysis or weakness, 30-60% of which never regain function [1, 6-9]. Many individuals who survive stroke will be forced to seek institutional care or long-term assistance. Clinicians have typically implemented stroke rehabilitative treatment using active training techniques such as constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) and robotic therapy [10-12]. Such techniques restore motor activity by forcing the movement of weakened limbs. That active engagement of the weakened limb movement stimulates neural pathways and activates the motor cortex, thus inducing brain plasticity and motor learning. Several studies have demonstrated that active training does in fact have an effect on the way the brain restores itself and leads to faster rehabilitation [10, 13-15]. In addition, studies involving mental practice, another form of rehabilitation, have shown that mental imagery directly stimulates the brain, but is not effective unless implemented as a supplemental to active training [16, 17]. Only stroke survivors retaining residual motor ability are able to undergo active rehabilitative training; the current selection of therapies has overlooked the significant population of stroke survivors suffering from severe control loss or complete paralysis [6, 10]. A BCI is a system or device that detects minute changes in brain signals to facilitate communication or control. In this investigation, the BCI was implemented through an electroencephalograph (EEG) device. EEG devices detect electrical brain signals transmitted through the scalp that corresponded with imagined motor activity. Within the BCI, a linear transformation algorithm converted EEG spectral features into control commands for an upper-limb rehabilitative robot, thus implementing a closed-looped feedback-control training system. The concept of the BCI-robot system implemented in this investigation may provide an alternative to current therapies by demonstrating the results of bypassing motor activity using brain signals to facilitate robotic therapy. In this study, 24 able-bodied volunteers were divided into two study groups; one group trained to use sensorimotor rhythms (SMRs) (produced by imagining motor activity) to control the movement of a robot and the other group performed the 'guided-imagery' task of watching the robot move without control. This investigation looked for contrasts between the two groups that showed that the training involved with controlling the BCI-robot system had an effect on brain plasticity and motor learning. To analyze brain plasticity and motor learning, EEG data corresponding to imagined arm movement and motor learning were acquired before, during, and after training. Features extracted from the EEG data consisted of frequencies in the 5-35Hz range, which produced amplitude fluctuations that were measurably significant during reaching. Motor learning data consisted of arm displacement measures (error) produced during an motor adaptation task performed daily by all subjects. The results of the brain plasticity analysis showed persistent reductions in beta activity for subjects in the BCI group. The analysis also showed that subjects in the Non-BCI group had significant reductions in mu activity; however, these results were likely due to the fact that different EEG caps were used in each stage of the study. These results were promising but require further investigation. The motor learning data showed that the BCI group out-performed non-BCI group in all measures of motor learning. These findings were significant because this was the first time a BCI had been applied to a motor learning protocol and the findings suggested that BCI had an influence on the speed at which subjects adapted to a motor learning task. Additional findings suggested that BCI subjects who were in the 40 and over age group had greater decreases in error after the learning phase of motor assessment. These finding suggests that BCI could have positive long term effects on individuals who are more likely to suffer from a stroke and possibly could be beneficial for chronic stroke patients. In addition to exploring the effects of BCI training on brain plasticity and motor learning this investigation sought to detect whether the EEG features produced during guided-imagery could differentiate between reaching direction. While the analysis presented in this project produced classification accuracies no greater than ~77%, it formed the basis of future studies that would incorporate different pattern recognition techniques. The results of this study show the potential for developing new rehabilitation therapies and motor learning protocols that incorporate BCI.

While a lot of efforts have been on outdoor intelligent systems, internal living environment system that suits the occupancy’s behaviour has not received much attention. The intelligent living environment designed in this study has three components; the physical world (environment), the database and the decision maker. The study sought to design a model that senses ever changing home conditions such as lights, doors and windows. Other variables that were looked at include, but not limited to the number of people in the room and inside thermodynamics and human activity. Global information such as temperature, gas or electricity usage and time of the day will also be received by the system through various sensing facilities. The information will be sent to a rules engine for a decision on an appropriate action to be taken. The action may include just turning off the lights, in the case of a mild abnormality or a high alert to an emergency response unit in a most severe case. The study proposes a context aware and proactive neural networks control system to control a living environment with a main focus on the aged citizens living alone. The proposed living environment was not developed to an actual or “mock” building containing a representation of subset of sensors, actuators and controllers as used in the actual systems due to lack of funding. However, the study will report on the modelling and simulation of the home system variables based on the chosen Artificial Intelligent technique using MATLAB/SIMULINK. These results indicate a possibility of implementing the designed living environment to increase the resident’s security. / Electrical and Mining Engineering / M. Tech. (Engineering: Electrical)

Extant literature indicates that web-based blended learning will become the most accepted mode of delivery in the near future as an alternative to traditional face-to-face instruction particularly in the higher education landscape due to its potential to provide increased access to education for more people, increased student engagement with the tutor, rich learning resources, peers, and external experts, and flexibility beyond the limits of classrooms without compromising quality. The study focused on developing a web-based blended learning model that could help reap the benefits of blended learning at the University of Botswana (UB). With this in mind, the research question, "How can a web-based blended learning environment be designed, developed and implemented at the University of Botswana?" was formulated. In order to address the research question, a six-dimensional model called LAPTEL was developed. The six dimentions are: Digital Leadership, Equitable Access, Active Participation, Authentic Tasks, Intellectual Engagement and Learning (LAPTEL); the first five dimentions are requisites to enable studnets to progress towards successful learning which is the sixth dimension. The LAPTEL model depicts guidelines on how to ensure equitable access for students to learning contexts, motivate and enable them to participate in meaningful educational processes, design and develop effective online as well as classroom learning materials (tasks), and engage students in active 'communityes of practice' in order to help them construct their own knowledge (learning) collaboratively under proper leadership. The Researcher considers it essential to have a complex interplay between the three components - active participation, authentic tasks and intellectual engagement to facilitate active, non-linear learning, and it will be catered for in the design, development and delivery of courses based on the LAPTEL model. The fact that these three dimensions have got features of both face-to-face and onlilne learning, integrated seamlessly, makes the LAPTEL a Web-based learning model. The overall aim was to develop a model of curriculum (re)design based on the student-centred pedagogical approaches that combine synergistically the effectiveness of traditional classroomwith technologically enhanced socialization and active learning oppotunities of the online environment in order to support student learning more effectively than what is possible in a typical lecture room. In a case study to evaluate the effectiveness of the LAPTEL model in the context of UB, the Researcher found that it could provide students with opportunity for increased interactive engagement (more than that is normally possible in 'face-to-face-only' or 'online-only' environments), flexibility and cognitive scaffolding that enhanced their learning experience. The Researcher concludes that the LAPTEL model fits well in the UB context, and it may be adopted by other institutions working under similar contexts. / Teacher Education / D. Ed. (Didactics)

Submitted by Milena Rubi ( ri.bso@ufscar.br) on 2017-10-17T13:29:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 BUENO_Danilo_2017.pdf: 12404601 bytes, checksum: b788f4b11bbb3fb391f608449597ae16 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Rubi ( ri.bso@ufscar.br) on 2017-10-17T13:29:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 BUENO_Danilo_2017.pdf: 12404601 bytes, checksum: b788f4b11bbb3fb391f608449597ae16 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Rubi ( ri.bso@ufscar.br) on 2017-10-17T13:29:26Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 BUENO_Danilo_2017.pdf: 12404601 bytes, checksum: b788f4b11bbb3fb391f608449597ae16 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-17T13:29:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 BUENO_Danilo_2017.pdf: 12404601 bytes, checksum: b788f4b11bbb3fb391f608449597ae16 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-30 / Não recebi financiamento / The use of mobile devices to browse the Web has become increasingly popular as a consequence of easy access to the Internet. However, moving from the desktop development to the mobile platform features, requests from developers an important focus on interaction elements which fit into the interaction demands. There by, several approaches have emerged for adaptation of Web applications. One of the most adopted solution by Web developers are front-end frameworks . Nevertheless, this technique has shortcomings that directly impact in the interaction elements and user satisfaction. In this scenario, the objective of this work is to propose a hybrid adaptation approach of context-sensitive Web interfaces with multimodality support, called HyMobWeb, which aims to help developers to create solutions closer to the device’s characteristics, to the contexts of use and the needs of end-users. The approach is composed of stages of static and dynamic adaptation. Static adaptation subsidizes developers in marking elements to be adapted through a grammar that can reduce the coding effort of solutions that address aspects related to multimodality and context sensitivity. Dynamic adaptation is responsible for analyzing changes in the context of the user and performing the marked adaptations in static adaptation. The approach was outlined from a review of the literature on mobile Web interface adaptation and three exploratory studies. The first and second study dealt with end users’ difficulties regarding the use of non-mobile Web applications. The third is about gaps in traditional adaptations - made through frameworks front-end - in relation to the users needs. Aiming to evaluate the approach, two evaluations were carried out, one from the perspective of the developer and another from the end user. The first one focused on verifying the acceptance of the proposal by software developers in the use of the grammar and resources proposed from it. The second sought to identify if the adaptation, previously implemented by the developers, brought satisfaction to the end-users during its use. The findings suggested that HyMobWeb brought significant contributions to the work of the developers and that the resources explored by the approach provided positive reactions to the satisfaction of end-users. / O uso de dispositivos móveis para navegar na Web tornou-se cada vez mais popular devido à proliferação dos aparelhos e sua facilidade de acesso. No entanto, a transição da plataforma desktop para mobile inseriu um novo desafio aos desenvolvedores sobre o uso de elementos de interação e de suas funcionalidades. Com isso, surgiram diversas abordagens para adaptação das aplicações Web. Entre elas, uma das mais comuns entre Desenvolvedores Web é a utilização de frameworks front-end . Contudo, estes frameworks possuem limitantes nas funcionalidades de adaptação das interfaces com deficiências que impactam diretamente nos elementos de interação e na satisfação do usuário. Diante deste cenário, este trabalho tem como objetivo propor a HyMobWeb, uma abordagem híbrida de adaptação de interfaces Web móveis sensíveis ao contexto e com suporte a multimodalidade, que visa a auxiliar os desenvolvedores na criação de soluções mais próximas às características do dispositivo, aos contextos de utilização, e as necessidades dos usuários finais. A abordagem é composta das etapas de adaptação estática e dinâmica. A adaptação estática subsidia os desenvolvedores na marcação de elementos a serem adaptados através de uma gramática que pode reduzir o esforço de codificação de soluções que abordam aspectos relacionados à multimodalidade e à sensibilidade ao contexto. A adaptação dinâmica é a responsável por analisar as mudanças no contexto do usuário e realizar as adaptações marcadas na adaptação estática. A abordagem foi delineada a partir de uma revisão da literatura acerca da adaptação de interface Web em dispositivos móveis e três estudos exploratórios. O primeiro estudo tratou sobre as dificuldades dos usuários finais em relação à utilização de aplicações Web não adaptadas aos dispositivos móveis. O segundo sobre os impactos da adição da multimodalidade em tais ambientes. Enquanto o terceiro, sobre as lacunas existentes nas adaptações tradicionais - realizadas através de frameworks front-end - em relação às necessidades dos usuários finais. Visando avaliar a abordagem, duas avaliações foram realizadas: uma na perspectiva do desenvolvedor e outra do usuário final. A primeira focou em verificar aceitação da proposta por parte dos desenvolvedores de software no uso da gramática e recursos propostos a partir dela. A segunda buscou identificar se a adaptação, previamente implementada pelos desenvolvedores, trazia satisfação para os usuários finais durante seu uso. Os resultados encontrados sugeriram que a HyMobWeb trouxe contribuições significativas para o trabalho dos desenvolvedores e que os recursos explorados pela abordagem propiciaram reações positivas na satisfação dos usuários finais

A expansão urbana resultante do rápido progresso das cidades é um grande desafio para o desenvolvimento sustentável. Deste modo a concepção de modelos computacionais adequados que permitam a simulação, visualização espacializada e análise do processo de crescimento urbano é fundamental. Políticas de gestão de bairros e tipos de crescimento urbano são constituídos por equipamentos representados por diferentes tipos de alvarás ou concessões para abertura e funcionamento de negócios. Também por sistemas viários, sistemas de transporte, limites políticos e administrativos, zoneamento e arruamento. Estes mecanismos podem ser evidenciados em um banco de dados espacial por (a) dados abertos georreferenciados, um termo que caracteriza elementos humanos, informações demográficas, socioeconômicas, infraestrutura, condições ambientais e históricas, (b) diferentes geometrias (ponto, linha e polígono) e (c) utilização de funções espaciais para representar relações topológicas, direcionais ou métricas entre os equipamentos. Para construção e implementação do modelo proposto neste trabalho são utilizados os itens acima descritos (a, b, c) e um conjunto de perguntas elaboradas por especialistas na área de urbanismo, apontadas como conceitos primordiais à área de crescimento urbano. Em relação ao objetivo e a modelagem as mais relevantes contribuições encontram-se: (1) na representação por meio de um pequeno conjunto de primitivas em banco de dados com extensão espacial, (2) na elaboração de um vocabulário ou atribuição de uma semântica ao modelo, (3) na interação entre diferentes conceitos associados ao processo de crescimento urbano, (4) na possibilidade de ampliação e integração de outros domínios de dados georreferenciados e abertos e (5) no tempo de execução inferior a 10 segundos para 70% das consultas espaciais. As contribuições em relação ao experimento com os usuários, considerado a interface web desenvolvida neste trabalho, encontram-se: (1) no fato de que a ferramenta atende as necessidades no tocante a geração e visualização espacializada de dados para 4 de 5 usuários, (2) na interação com dados georreferenciados de alvarás de funcionamento, divisa de bairros e ruas e (3) na visualização dos dados do ponto de vista histórico e espacial. / The resulting urban expansion from the rapid development of cities is a major challenge for sustainable development. Thus, the design of appropriate computational models that enable the simulation, spatialized visualization and analysis of the process of urban growth is critical. Neighborhood Management policies and types of urban growth are made up of equipment represented by different types of permits or concessions for opening and business operation. Also for road systems, transportation systems, political and administrative boundaries, zoning and street layout. It can be demonstrated in a spatial database by (a) georeferenced open data, a term that characterizes human elements, demographic, socio-economic, infrastructure, environmental and historical conditions, (b) different geometries (point, line and polygon) and (c) use of spatial functions for topological relations, directional or metrics between devices. Construction and implementation of the proposed model in this paper are used the above items (a, b, c) and a set of questions prepared by experts in the planning area, identified as primordial concepts to urban growth area. In relation to the goal and modeling the most relevant contributions are: (1) the representation by means of a small set of primitives in a database with spatial extension, (2) the development of a vocabulary or assigning a semantic the model, (3) the interaction between different concepts associated with the process of urban growth, (4) the possibility of expansion and integration of other areas of georeferenced data and open and (5) in the lower run time to 10 seconds to 70% spatial queries. Contributions in relation to the experiment with users, considered the web interface developed in this work: (1) on the fact that the tool covers the needs as regards the generation and spatialized visualization of data for 4 of 5 users, (2 ) interacting with georeferenced data of business licenses, neighborhoods and streets boundary and (3) in the data visualization from the historical and spatial point of view.

CAPES / This master thesis presents the further development of a galvanic vestibular stimulator for use in fMRI examinations developed in a previous thesis (MANCZAK, 2012). This thesis amends the GVS by circuits to measure feedback values and implements the stimulation circuit with digital components, such as a microcontroller and flyback integrated circuits. The microcontroller is used in order to control the current source and process the measured values. The communication between the PC, which allows user interaction through a graphical user interface, and the microcontroller is implemented through optical communication, which is defined by a communication protocol specification. The digital circuitry is designed to be placed within the MRI room, meeting the requirements imposed by strong magnetic fields and radio frequency pulses. The underlying hypothesis of the thesis is that the device can be placed within the MRI room without having a negative impact on the MRI image quality. Laboratory tests without the MRI confirmed the correct design of the galvanic vestibular stimulator.

A expansão urbana resultante do rápido progresso das cidades é um grande desafio para o desenvolvimento sustentável. Deste modo a concepção de modelos computacionais adequados que permitam a simulação, visualização espacializada e análise do processo de crescimento urbano é fundamental. Políticas de gestão de bairros e tipos de crescimento urbano são constituídos por equipamentos representados por diferentes tipos de alvarás ou concessões para abertura e funcionamento de negócios. Também por sistemas viários, sistemas de transporte, limites políticos e administrativos, zoneamento e arruamento. Estes mecanismos podem ser evidenciados em um banco de dados espacial por (a) dados abertos georreferenciados, um termo que caracteriza elementos humanos, informações demográficas, socioeconômicas, infraestrutura, condições ambientais e históricas, (b) diferentes geometrias (ponto, linha e polígono) e (c) utilização de funções espaciais para representar relações topológicas, direcionais ou métricas entre os equipamentos. Para construção e implementação do modelo proposto neste trabalho são utilizados os itens acima descritos (a, b, c) e um conjunto de perguntas elaboradas por especialistas na área de urbanismo, apontadas como conceitos primordiais à área de crescimento urbano. Em relação ao objetivo e a modelagem as mais relevantes contribuições encontram-se: (1) na representação por meio de um pequeno conjunto de primitivas em banco de dados com extensão espacial, (2) na elaboração de um vocabulário ou atribuição de uma semântica ao modelo, (3) na interação entre diferentes conceitos associados ao processo de crescimento urbano, (4) na possibilidade de ampliação e integração de outros domínios de dados georreferenciados e abertos e (5) no tempo de execução inferior a 10 segundos para 70% das consultas espaciais. As contribuições em relação ao experimento com os usuários, considerado a interface web desenvolvida neste trabalho, encontram-se: (1) no fato de que a ferramenta atende as necessidades no tocante a geração e visualização espacializada de dados para 4 de 5 usuários, (2) na interação com dados georreferenciados de alvarás de funcionamento, divisa de bairros e ruas e (3) na visualização dos dados do ponto de vista histórico e espacial. / The resulting urban expansion from the rapid development of cities is a major challenge for sustainable development. Thus, the design of appropriate computational models that enable the simulation, spatialized visualization and analysis of the process of urban growth is critical. Neighborhood Management policies and types of urban growth are made up of equipment represented by different types of permits or concessions for opening and business operation. Also for road systems, transportation systems, political and administrative boundaries, zoning and street layout. It can be demonstrated in a spatial database by (a) georeferenced open data, a term that characterizes human elements, demographic, socio-economic, infrastructure, environmental and historical conditions, (b) different geometries (point, line and polygon) and (c) use of spatial functions for topological relations, directional or metrics between devices. Construction and implementation of the proposed model in this paper are used the above items (a, b, c) and a set of questions prepared by experts in the planning area, identified as primordial concepts to urban growth area. In relation to the goal and modeling the most relevant contributions are: (1) the representation by means of a small set of primitives in a database with spatial extension, (2) the development of a vocabulary or assigning a semantic the model, (3) the interaction between different concepts associated with the process of urban growth, (4) the possibility of expansion and integration of other areas of georeferenced data and open and (5) in the lower run time to 10 seconds to 70% spatial queries. Contributions in relation to the experiment with users, considered the web interface developed in this work: (1) on the fact that the tool covers the needs as regards the generation and spatialized visualization of data for 4 of 5 users, (2 ) interacting with georeferenced data of business licenses, neighborhoods and streets boundary and (3) in the data visualization from the historical and spatial point of view.

CAPES / This master thesis presents the further development of a galvanic vestibular stimulator for use in fMRI examinations developed in a previous thesis (MANCZAK, 2012). This thesis amends the GVS by circuits to measure feedback values and implements the stimulation circuit with digital components, such as a microcontroller and flyback integrated circuits. The microcontroller is used in order to control the current source and process the measured values. The communication between the PC, which allows user interaction through a graphical user interface, and the microcontroller is implemented through optical communication, which is defined by a communication protocol specification. The digital circuitry is designed to be placed within the MRI room, meeting the requirements imposed by strong magnetic fields and radio frequency pulses. The underlying hypothesis of the thesis is that the device can be placed within the MRI room without having a negative impact on the MRI image quality. Laboratory tests without the MRI confirmed the correct design of the galvanic vestibular stimulator.

Les visualisations, dans le sens général de représentations externes et physiques de données, sont plus anciennes que l'invention de l'écriture. De manière générale, les représentations externes encouragent la cognition et la pensée visuelle, et nous avons développé des savoir-faire pour les créer et les exploiter. La révolution informatique a augmenté la quantité de données qu'il est possible de collecter et de traiter, et a diversifié les façons de les représenter visuellement. Les systèmes de visualisation assistés par ordinateur, et étudiés dans le domaine de la visualisation d'information, sont aujourd'hui si puissants et complexes que nous avons besoin de techniques d'interaction très sophistiqués. Grâce au développement des possibilités technologiques au-delà des ordinateurs de bureau, un large éventail d'utilisations émerge. Non seulement des surfaces d'affichage de formes et de tailles variées permettent de montrer des visualisations plus riches, mais aussi des dispositifs d'entrée de nouvelle génération peuvent être utilisés qui exploitent les aptitudes humaines à manipuler les objets physiques. Cependant, ces technologies sont peu étudiées dans le contexte de la visualisation d'information. Tout d'abord, un premier problème découle d'une terminologie insuffisante. Dans cette thèse, je définis et étudie entre autres le concept de corporalisation (embodiment) pour la visualisation d'information. Concernant les visualisations, la corporalisation réfère à la congruence entre les éléments visuels d'une visualisation et leurs formes physiques. Ce concept intègre des concepts déjà connus tels que la tangibilité. Par exemple, l'interaction tangible s'attache à la représentation d'objets virtuels par des objets physiques. Mais en réalité, leur forme physique n'est pas nécessairement congruente avec l'objet virtuel. Un second problème découle du peu d'exemples convaincants d'interfaces tangibles appliquées à la visualisation d'information. Dans le domaine de la visualisation d'information, les écrans standard et les dispositifs d'entrée génériques tels que la souris, sont toujours les plus courants et considérés comme les plus efficaces. Cependant, aussi bien la partie affichage que la partie contrôle fournit des possibilités de corporalisation : les dispositifs d'entrée peuvent être spécialisés et adaptés de façon à ce que leur forme physique ressemble à leur fonction; les écrans peuvent être rendus déformables ou, dans l'avenir, être composés d'une matière programmable capable de prendre n'importe quelle forme imaginable. Mais la recherche sur les écrans et matières déformables est pour l'instant principalement dirigée par l'innovation technologique sans tenir compte des applications possibles à la visualisation d'information. Dans cette thèse, j'propose la corporalisation comme principe de conception pour la visualisation d'information. Je démontre l'efficacité et l'utilisabilité des dispositifs d'entrée corporalisés ainsi que des affichages corporalisés, en présentant trois expériences contrôlées. Par la suite, je présente un modèle d'interaction conceptuel et un système de notation visuelle pour décrire, comparer et critiquer différents types de systèmes de visualisation, et j'illustre l'utilisation de ce modèle à partir d'études de cas. Enfin, je présente un outil de conception pour aider à la création de visualisations physiques. Cet outil s'adresse à des utilisateurs novices en visualisation d'information et en fabrication numérique, et peut contribuer à sensibiliser ces utilisateurs à l'intérêt d'explorer des données qui les concernent dans leur vie quotidienne. En résumé, cette thèse contribue à la compréhension de la valeur ajoutée des interfaces physiques pour la visualisation d'information. / Visualizations in the most general sense of external, physical representations of information are older than the invention of writing. Generally, external representations promote external cognition and visual thinking, and humans developed a rich set of skills for crafting and exploring them. Computers immensely increased the amount of data we can collect and process as well as diversified the ways we can represent it visually. Computer-supported visualization systems, studied in the field of information visualization (infovis), have become powerful and complex, and sophisticated interaction techniques are now necessary to control them. With the widening of technological possibilities beyond classic desktop settings, new opportunities have emerged. Not only display surfaces of arbitrary shapes and sizes can be used to show richer visualizations, but also new input technologies can be used to manipulate them. For example, tangible user interfaces are an emerging input technology that capitalizes on humans' abilities to manipulate physical objects. However, these technologies have been barely studied in the field of information visualization. A first problem is a poorly defined terminology. In this dissertation, I define and explore the conceptual space of embodiment for information visualization. For visualizations, embodiment refers to the level of congruence between the visual elements of the visualization and their physical shape. This concept subsumes previously introduced concepts such as tangibility and physicality. For example, tangible computing aims to represent virtual objects through a physical form but the form is not necessarily congruent with the virtual object. A second problem is the scarcity of convincing applications of tangible user interfaces for infovis purposes. In information visualization, standard computer displays and input devices are still widespread and considered as most effective. Both of these provide however opportunities for embodiment: input devices can be specialized and adapted so that their physical shape reflects their functionality within the system; computer displays can be substituted by transformable shape changing displays or, eventually, by programmable matter which can take any physical shape imaginable. Research on such shape-changing interfaces has so far been technology-driven while the utility of such interfaces for information visualization remained unexploited. In this thesis, I suggest embodiment as a design principle for infovis purposes, I demonstrate and validate the efficiency and usability of both embodied visualization controls and embodied visualization displays through three controlled user experiments. I then present a conceptual interaction model and visual notation system that facilitates the description, comparison and criticism of various types of visualization systems and illustrate it through case studies of currently existing point solutions. Finally, to aid the creation of physical visualizations, I present a software tool that supports users in building their own visualizations. The tool is suitable for users new to both visualization and digital fabrication, and can help to increase users' awareness of and interest in data in their everyday live. In summary, this thesis contributes to the understanding of the value of emerging physical representations for information visualization.