Announcements

November 24, 2007
Reading for November 27th, are now posted. Enjoy!

October 2, 2007
To upload your thoughtless acts, create a new assignment page like any other lab. You'll see "Thoughtless Acts" listed as one of the assignment options.

May 24, 2008
This site has been archived and is no longer editable. Stay tuned for the next version, coming in the fall!


Course Syllabus and Assignments

Schedule

Click on a day in the schedule to see the assignments assigned/due on each day, as well as to find links to readings and presentations.

Lecture: Tuesday 10:30am-12:00pm

Lab: Thursday
10:30am-12:00pm

8/28 Introduction 8/30 Lab 1 - Introduction to Physical Computing
9/4 Activity Theory and TUI 9/6 Lab 2 - Digital Input and Output with Arduino Boards
9/11 Tangible Bits 9/13 Lab 3 - Sensing: Potentiometers
9/18 Containers, Tools, and Token: Taxonomy of TUIs 9/20 Lab 4 - Sensing: Force sensors and photocells
9/25 Calm Computing and Ambient Media 9/27 Lab 5 - Output: Piezo speakers
10/2 Human Centered Design 10/4 Lab 6 - Output: DC motors
10/9 Design and Innovation 10/11 Lab 7 - Output: Servo motors
10/16 Midterm Project Review 10/18 Lab 8 - Output: Simple mechanics
10/23 Mixed / Augmented Reality 10/25 Lab 9 - Synthesis: Invent a music instrument (group work)
10/30 Guest lecture by Eric Paulos 11/1 Lab 10 - Synthesis: Intent a musical instrument (group work)
11/6 Technology in Domestic Space (Ryan Aipperspach) 11/8 Guest lecture by Tod Kurt (ThingM)
11/13 Guest lecture by Wendy Ju 11/15 Final project progress report and critique
11/20 Final project progress report and critique 11/22 No class: Thanksgiving holiday
11/27 Evaluating TUIs 11/29 Guest lecture by David Nguyen
12/4 Summary 12/6 Final project exhibition
12/11 Final project exhibition


Grading

The course will consist of five graded components, as described below:

  • Lab (25%)

    In-class lab projects (Thursdays) will be graded based on completion and the amount of effort put in. We will provide both "beginner" and "advanced" options, and students are expected to strive for growth in their skill sets during the semester.

  • Homework (25%)

    Homework assignments will build on the lab projects. Students are expected to post descriptions, images, and source code of their assignments on the course website.

  • Midterm Project (10%)

    Design a Tangible User Interface that takes advantage of your hands to manipulate digital information. Apply it to a topic of your research interest (e.g., tool for communication, learning/education, design, etc.). Your project may be based on a completely new design or redesign of familiar everyday objects.

    Midterm project process and schedule:


    9/25 Form a group (maximum of 3 members) for your project and write a 1-page proposal and post it on the course website.
    10/9 Progress sketches due (post your sketches on the course website).
    10/16 In-class midterm project presentation. Present your poster and optional mockups.

  • Final Project (30%)

    Final project entails two parts:

    1. An interactive prototype to be exhibited at the final course exhibition on Dec 6th and 11th, 2007. Your prototype is to demonstrate your original idea for a Tangible User Interface that takes advantage of your hands to manipulate digital information, and
    2. A write-up due Dec 13, 2007 in the ACM SIGCHI Extended Abstract format: http://www.chi2008.org/chi2008extendedabstracts.doc

    Reflect on your midterm project. You may expand your midterm project, or take a new approach to a Tangible User Interface that takes advantage of your hands to manipulate digital information.
    You may continue to work as a group (maximum of 3 members) or as an individual. If you work in a group, be clear about each member’s role in the project.


    11/6 Finalize your group for project and post your proposal on the course website. Create a list of materials you need. (We may be able to help.)
    11/15 In-class final project progress report and critique
    12/6 and 12/11/ Final project exhibition. Present your prototype. Be prepared to discuss your design principles and design process.
    12/13 Final write up due.

    The final project will involve the ideation and implementation of a novel tangible user interface. It may be a continuation of the midterm project or based on a new idea. The focus on the project will be on the originality and quality of the idea more than on the extent of the implementation (although both are of course important). Project output will be the interface prototype itself (and an optional poster or handouts), which will be presented at an open house at the end of the semester. Additionally, students will be expected to write a short report on the project, including preliminary evaluation of their interface or an outline of what types of evaluation might be conducted in the future.

  • Participation (10%)

    Students are expected to come to class, engage in discussion, and put contribute to lab sessions.

Assignments

Assignments for each week are listed below.


TitleDescriptionStart DateDue Date
Lab 1 - Introduction to Physical Computing

Creating a conversation between the physical world and the virtual world of the computer, with a process of transduction.


08/30/200709/06/2007
Lab 2 - Digital Input and Output with Arduino boards

Homework


09/06/200709/13/2007
Lab 3 - Sensors: Analog input and LEDs

Digitize potentiometer input and use pulse width modulation of LEDs as output, variable resistors as sensors.


09/13/200709/20/2007
Midterm Project 1 - Group project proposal

Creating a project group and posting a project proposal.


09/11/200709/25/2007
Lab 4 - Sensors: Force sensitive resistors and photocells

Use force resistive and photocells sensors as input and use variable LEDs (build on the pulse width modulation exercise from Week 3) as output; consider multiple force sensors and photocells?


09/20/200709/27/2007
Lab 5 - Output: Piezo speakers/Processing

Piezo speaker, serial output to work with Processing.


09/27/200710/04/2007
Midterm Project 2 - Progress sketches

Sketches documenting your progress so far.


09/25/200710/09/2007
Lab 6 - Output: DC motors

Intro to working with DC motors, control a DC motor’s speed.


10/04/200710/11/2007
Midterm Project 3 - Final presentation

In class poster and mockup presentation.


10/09/200710/16/2007
Lab 7 - Output: Servo motors

Intro to working with servo motors, control the motion of servo motors. Using the servo motor to explore rotational and linear motions.


10/11/200710/18/2007
Thoughtless Acts

Thoughtless Acts Gallery


10/02/200710/22/2007
Lab 8 - Output: Simple Mechanics

Make a mechanical clock


10/25/200711/01/2007
Final Project 1 - Group formation and proposal

Form a project group; post a proposal and materials list online.


10/16/200711/06/2007
Lab 9 - Synthesis: Invent a musical instrument (Group work)

Work together in a small group to integrate the tools you've acquired to create a new musical instrument.


11/01/200711/08/2007
Final Project 2 - Progress Report

In-class final project progress report and critique.


11/06/200711/15/2007
Final Project 3 - Final project exhibition in class

Final project exhibition. Present your prototype. Be prepared to discuss your design principles and design process.


11/15/200712/06/2007
Final Project 3 - Final project exhibition in class

Final project exhibition. Present your prototype. Be prepared to discuss your design principles and design process.


11/15/200712/06/2007
Final Project 4 - Final write up

Final write up due.


11/15/200712/13/2007

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