From Papers to the Real World: Making Fabrication Research Matter

Digital fabrication research within HCI has generated powerful new techniques, tools, and systems, enabling lay users to create novel application devices. Yet many of these contributions remain confined to academic publications or lab prototypes. This workshop asks how fabrication research can make an impact beyond the paper. We will examine motivations for dissemination, strategies employed, and lessons learned from both successes and failures. Through two invited keynotes and interactive ideation activities, we will chart pathways by which fabrication research reaches the real world. The outcome will be a set of shared notes and insights, documenting practices that help researchers extend the reach of their work.