  Data Physicalization focuses on understanding how physical representations of
data can support communication, learning and problem-solving. As an emerging
area, Data Physicalization research needs conceptual foundations to support
thinking about and designing new physical representations of data. Yet, it
remains unclear at the moment (i) what encoding variables are at the designer's
disposal during the creation of physicalizations, (ii) what evaluation criteria
could be useful, and (iii) what methods can be used to evaluate
physicalizations. This article addresses these three questions through a
narrative review and a systematic review. The narrative review draws on the
literature from Information Visualization, HCI and Cartography to provide a
holistic view of encoding variables for data. The systematic review looks
closely into the evaluation criteria and methods that can be used to evaluate
data physicalizations. Both reviews offer a conceptual framework for
researchers and designers interested in designing and studying data
physicalizations.
