Last Two Years

TIER 1- FOUNDATION COURSES

• Applications of Interactive Telecommunications Technology (H79.2000) - Red Burns
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  This introductory class is designed to allow students to engage in a critical dialogue with leaders drawn from the artistic, non-profit and commercial sectors of the new media field, and to learn the value of collaborative projects by undertaking group presentations in response to issues raised by the guest speakers. Interactive media projects and approaches to the design of new media applications are presented weekly; students are thus exposed to both commercial as well as mission-driven applications by the actual designers and creators of these innovative and experimental projects. By way of this process, all first year students, for the first and only time in their ITP experience, are together in one room at one time, and as a community, encounter, and respond to, the challenges posed by the invited guests. The course at once provides an overview of current developments in this emerging field, and asks students to consider many questions about the state of the art. For example, with the new technologies and applications making their way into almost every phase of the economy and rooting themselves in our day to day lives, what can we learn from both the failures and successes? What are the impacts on our society? What is ubiquitous computing, embedded computing, physical computing? How is cyberspace merging with physical space? Class participation, group presentations, and a final paper are required.
• Comm Lab (H79.2004) - Marianne Petit, Gabe Barcia-Colombo, Spencer Kiser, Michael Dory
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  An introductory course designed to provide students with hands-on experience using various technologies including social software and web development, digital imaging, audio, video and animation. The forms and uses of new communications technologies are explored in a laboratory context of experimentation and discussion. The technologies are examined as tools that can be employed in a variety of situations and experiences. Principles of interpersonal communications, media theory, and human factors are introduced. Weekly assignments, team and independent projects, and project reports are required.       Course Syllabus
• Introduction to Computational Media (H79.2233) - Daniel Rozin, Daniel Shiffman, Shawn Van Every, Che-Wei Wang
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  What can computation add to human communication? Creating computer applications, instead of just using them, will give you a deeper understanding of the essential possibilities of computation. The course focuses on the fundamentals of programming the computer (variables, conditionals, iteration, functions, and objects) and then touches on some more advanced techniques such as text parsing, image processing, networking, computer vision, and serial communication. The Java-based 'Processing' programming environment is the primary vehicle for the class, however at the end of the semester, the course offers a peek behind the Processing curtain and directly into Java. The course is designed for computer programming novices. Although experienced coders can waive this class, some programmers use ICM to acclimatize to the ITP approach and for the opportunity play further with their project ideas. Weekly assignments are required throughout semester. The end of the semester is spent developing an idea for a final project and implementing it using computer programming.       Course Syllabus
• Introduction to Computational Media on the Web (H79.2788) - Shawn Van Every
  Offered: Fall 2009
  What can a global network of interconnected computers add to art, culture, humanity? Creating web based applications, rather than just being a user of them, will provide you a deeper understanding of the possibilities available through networking and computation. The course focuses on the fundamentals of programming (variables, conditionals, iteration, functions, and objects) and touches on some more advanced topics such as user interface, text parsing, databases, and communicating through and with the physical world. PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) and JavaScript are the primary programming vehicles for the class. The course is designed for programming novices. In particular it is geared towards those with no programming or web development experience. Those whom already have web development experience should consider taking ICM instead as it will open up a different set of tools and capabilities. Weekly assignments are required throughout the semester and the end of the semester is spent developing and executing an idea for a web based application. This course fulfills the computational media foundation requirement and should not be taken together with ICM.       Course Syllabus
• Introduction to Physical Computing (H79.2301) - Greg Shakar, Thomas Igoe, Daniel O'Sullivan, Kathryn Hartman, Scott Fitzgerald, Rory Nugent
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Summer1 2009
  This course expands the students' palette for physical interaction design with computational media. We look away from the limitations of the mouse, keyboard and monitor interface of today's computers, and start instead with the expressive capabilities of the human body. We consider uses of the computer for more than just information retrieval and processing, and at locations other than the home or the office. The platform for the class is a microcontroller, a single-chip computer that can fit in your hand. The core technical concepts include digital, analog and serial input and output. Core interaction design concepts include user observation, affordances, and converting physical action into digital information. Students have weekly lab exercises to build skills with the microcontroller and related tools, and longer assignments in which they apply the principles from weekly labs in creative applications. Both individual work and group work is required.       Course Syllabus

TIER 2

• Integrating the Virtual and the Theatrical (H79.2786) - Kay Matschullat, Andrew Schneider
  Offered: Fall 2009
  New media artists, interaction designers, and live performers, come together in this class to expand and integrate the virtual presence with the performer’s presence on stage. First we examine the current explosion of media use on the stage including projection, text messaging, video chatting and their relation to the acting moment. Quickly we move into experimenting with new possibilities for digital presence on stage and explore actor responses to the parallel narratives of the live and the virtual. Questions that are addressed in the class include: what does it mean to be in the moment when the moment has been split apart into a virtual and a live presence? What are the possibilities for digital presences on stage other than media and how can they be played with? If there is a truly interactive landscape on stage, what are the paths of improvisation that can expand the definition of performance in such an environment? Experiments undertaken in the class are presented to an invited audience at the end of the term.
• 1', 2', 10' (H79.2768) - Nick Bilton
  Offered: Spring 2009
  User Interface (U.I.) isn't just an exploration of good design—either on screen or in a hardware—it's increasingly becoming a transformation of input based user interaction; the UI of an iPhone application, allowing multi-touch and access to a variety of sensors differs from that of a Television with limited inputs, computer with keyboard and other inputs, or a newly created device. As the available inputs and UI changes with each device, so does the content, design limitations and the narrative. We currently live in a world where we interact with content in 3 main environments 1 foot—cell phone/ipod, 2 foot—computer, and 10 foot—television and with each of these devices we have to accommodate our content and interaction accordingly, and allow for the content to follow you between these devices, but maintain a classic & intuitive user experience. This course looks at these problems on a per-project basis and looks to solve them at a granular level. The class is a mix of hands on problem solving based around current student projects, and lectures exploring real world experiences in these scenarios and why some of them work, and most of them don't.       Course Syllabus
• 2X2 (H79.2652) - Nancy Hechinger
  Offered: Fall 2008
  Form follows format. The first movies were filmed plays; it took decades for the vocabulary of film & a new kind of storytelling to emerge. Now film is viewable on handheld devices: phones, palms, ipods, MP3 players—and people are watching movies meant for the big screen and a communal experience (theater) or short format forms, such as commercials and music videos, meant for TV and whose purpose is selling stuff. Will a new art form emerge? Will there be a new vocabulary? Will visuals become less important? Sound more important? Can you be moved to action, to tears, to laughter in a short time and small space? Can you possibly feel immersed? I don’t know. 2X2 is an experiment—a creative storytelling/narrative course to explore a potential new art form, specifically designed to be seen on a small (+/- 2 inch) screen for a short time (+/- 2 minute). Emphasis on story, not production., not interaction. No theory. We explore narrative possibilities in both non-fiction (e.g. essay forms, mini-docs,) and fiction (e.g. stories, poetry, performance). In some assignments, students work with ‘other people’s stories”; in others they create their own. and stories created by students. In a collaboration for this class only, students will have access and permission to use the Magnum Photo archive (www.magnumphotos.com) The class follows an almost traditional ‘creative writing’ format. Each week there are two assignments. These are quick sketches/rough drafts. 1) A specific exercise, given at the end of each class, which has 2 aspects: a topic/theme (e.g. confess to an emotional crime, TK), and a form restriction (e.g. use no words). In each class, students present their work for critique. 2) Dickens meets Dada: Story Collaborative. Dickens published his work in monthly serial installments. The Dadaists played Exquisite Corpse. We combine the two. Every week, each student adds an episode, randomly assigned, to someone else’s story created the previous week. Thus, if there are 14 people in the class, we end up with 14 12 part stories. Students post their contribution by Tuesday night (2 days before class), so that everyone has time to view them before class. We may also post them to a public site to get viewer feedback as we go. For a final project, each student picks 2 of their individual assignments (one fiction, one non-fiction) to take to a more finished level. The last class is a film festival with outside reviewers.       Course Syllabus
• 3D and the Marriage of the Virtual & the Real (H79.2291) - Jean-Marc Gauthier
  Offered: Spring 2008
  This course is an introduction to 3D and digital cinematography using Maya, MEL scripting, After Effects, Z-brush and Combustion innovative. This course offers access to the motion-capture lab for live recording of animations and for importing motion into character animation using Maya and MEL scripting. Students create an hybrid of video and 3D animation in order to re-interpret, digitally, motion, colors, textures, camera movements, gestures, sounds and human expressions. Students create their own stories combining video footage from reality and fantasy virtual worlds. Topics addressed include building sets with digital storyboards, creating animated digital characters from hand-drawn sketches, Machinima movies, organic growth, camera tracking, character animation, lighting and compositing. In addition to the simulation of natural and urban environments, real-time physics, fluid dynamics, sound modeling and procedural textures are covered. This course introduces students to a wide range of techniques and skills used for storytelling, pre-visualization and gaming. Students prepare weekly assignments and a 3D animation for their final project. No pre-requisite is needed for this class. Students can use alternative 3D software tools. More at http://www.tinkering.net/vreal/       Course Syllabus
• Animals, People and Those In Between (H79.2746) - Marina Zurkow
  Offered: Spring 2009
  This class uses animals, humans, and other creatures as a way to think about character representation. Claude Levi-Strauss’ observation that “Animals are Good to Think” is the starting point from which we make, discuss, and examine the ways in which art works imagine the interrelationships between the human, the animal, and our environment. If we can only perceive these things through mediation (media representations), then how we represent them is the fundamental question, reflecting our ideologies, prejudices, hopes, and fears. Do we speak for animals, and if so what are we saying for them? Are they friends, pets, environmental equals or beasts? How are hybrid monsters (chimera) created and what do they mean? How do we understand our places as subjects in a landscape or a datascape? How can anthropomorphic cuteness be subversive? This class focuses on questions of intention, relation, and subjectivity, through critical engagement with representations of people, animals, monsters, and mutants, in their respective environments. The class is further focused on the use of character in context, via toy design, robotics, animation, video, image generation or data visualization. There are introductory texts on character development, and generally an emphasis on literary, philosophical and natural history texts, including Jorge Luis Borges, John Berger, Giorgio Agamben, Donna Haraway, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Baker, Deleuze & Guattari. Assignments include studio work and readings. There is more emphasis on the development and analysis of ideas, and less emphasis on particular media or forms. Students make several short projects, backed up by readings and research into precedent art works. There is a final project. Class is a combination of studio critique, responses to art works, reading and discussion.       Course Syllabus
• Art and the Brain (H79.2508) - Michael Barnwell
  Offered: Spring 2008
  What can art tell us about how the brain works? And, likewise, what can the brain tell us about how we perceive and create art? This class examines brain functioning in relation to several topics grounded in visual art and performance: the mechanics of emotions; the physiology of facial expressions and aesthetic movement; the science of vision; and the neural foundations of narrative, memory and imitation. Class discussions are oriented around the complex and emerging field of neuroaesthetics. The practical objective of the class is to develop an understanding of how the brain works as a resource and inspiration for creating art across traditional and new media, from film, theatre, dance, and music to interface design, installations, and AI.       Course Syllabus
• Art/Science Collisions: Communicating With Data (H79.2486) - Gretchen Gano
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  The aim of this course is to explore and draw inspiration from the scientific process, its representations, and data. What does it mean to use the “scientific method”? What is the purpose and value of data produced in experiments? How true are representations crafted with data, and who wants or needs to know about scientific results? What do we gain by incorporating scientific data or visualization into our own work? The course focuses on cases from emerging and converging scientific and technological fields: nano, info, & bio. The goal is to cultivate purposeful science communication and to encourage critical responses to scientific and technological practice in modern culture. Over the course of the class, each student focuses on a particular area of science and becomes familiar with its process, language, and data. To do this, we get some first hand experience unpacking particular visualizations, talking with scientists and students of scientific disciplines, and interviewing members of our potential audiences. Who produces and analyses data, what are they looking for in their results? Who else is interested in understanding data --in what setting, through what medium or interface? From these direct experiences, we propose our own art/science collisions: using artistic sensibilities and media tools to communicate about the scientific process, contextualize and annotate visualizations, and frame our chosen topic for particular audiences: museum-goers, policy makers, the disabled, teachers, adults, or children. In periodic “science salons,” we discuss our chosen areas of science, associated datasets and visualizations, affiliated scientists, and potential audiences. We formulate our own approach to communicating information about science, data, and the topics these inform. Students fully-develop one idea as a media/ interactive presentation for the final project, incorporating scientific data and framing the presentation for a select audience and setting.       Course Syllabus
• Basic Analog Circuits (H79.2728) - Eric Rosenthal
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  Today's mostly digital world also requires a basic knowledge of analog circuits. In this course students learn about the basic principles of analog circuits design and operation. Students learn about discrete components such as resistors, capacitors, diodes and transistors as well as integrated components such as operational amplifiers. In addition, students become familiar with the operation of basic electronic test equipment such as digital multimeters, oscilloscopes, function generators. The instructor lectures on, and demonstrates, basic analog concepts so that students can form a basic rule of thumb understanding of analog circuits, concepts and components. In the lab, students can integrate analog solutions into their project work.       Course Syllabus
• Big Games (H79.2454) - Gregory Trefry
  Offered: Spring 2009
  What happens to games when they escape the boundaries of our tabletops and desktops and VV TV screens and living rooms? From massively multiplayer online games to networked objects that turn the city into a gigantic game grid, new forms of super-sized gaming are expanding at an alarming rate and opening up vast new spaces in which to play. Whether these games are measured in terms of number of players, geographical dimensions, or temporal scope, they represent a new trend in which the "little world" created by a game threatens to swallow up the "real world" in which it is situated. This class is a hands-on workshop that is focused on the particular design problems of large-scale games. In this class students: develop a foundation of basic game design understanding from which to approach the specific issues particular to big games; analyze existing digital and non-digital large-scale games, taking them apart to understand how they work; as interactive systems; and work on a series of design exercises that explore the social, technological, and creative possibilities of large-scale games.       Course Syllabus
• Big Screens (H79.2680) - Daniel Shiffman
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  This class is dedicated to experimenting with interactivity on large-scale screens. Students develop one project over the course of the semester, culminating with a showing at InterActive Corps' 120 X 12-foot video wall at their corporate headquarters on 18th St. and the West Side Highway. A mock-up of the system is available at ITP for testing. Class time is divided between independent project development, critique, technical demonstrations, and field trips to IAC. Students should be comfortable programming in Java and Processing.       Course Syllabus
• Cabinets of Wonder (H79.2470) - Nancy Hechinger
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2009
  If you were inventing a museum today, what would it look like? Who would be there? What would its main purpose be? Before you answer that question, let’s take a look back. The first museums were called Cabinets of Wonder. Usually, a viewer with a guide, often the collector, would open doors and drawers to see what was inside--amazing things from different parts of the world, different times. They were windows on the world to places the visitors would probably never be able to go. The public was very limited; children were usually not allowed in. They were elitist institutions whose mission was archiving the past. Today, although most museums seek to educate and to include more and more diverse visitors, there are fundamental ways—attitudes, techniques, structural issues—that are still lodged in the 19th century. Now, because of a very different kind of Cabinet of Wonder, i.e. the computer and other IT technologies, museums are able to display collections, demonstrate concepts, and reach their audiences in new ways. Most have not taken full advantage of these new tools or had the time to explore how they might change the nature of a museum visit... but we do in this course. We document together the ways in which technology may enhance the museum experience. We evaluate the use of interactive technologies in museums and how that experience might be extended online. But first we observe and study what they do now. We cannot invent a new wheel before we understand the old one. In this course we explore the different kinds of exhibits in museums (object-based collection, demonstrations of phenomena), historic or single topic museums (e.g. The Tenement Museum) and the varied kinds of venues for exhibits (museums, trade shows, traveling, nature centers) Students learn through experience and discussion a brief history of museums and exhibitions, discover criteria for informal learning environments that differ from school room learning. The class is an exploration, observation and theory class. You are asked to visit specific museums: an iconic one of each type. These visits are your primary assignments—sometimes accompanied by a reading. Someone from the assigned museum comes to class and makes a presentation and receives critiques from you. In the second half of the course, we begin to reinvent the museum. What is its purpose in the 21st century? How does the need for a curator change? We look at different museums’ efforts to use technology to take museums beyond the walls, to expand the notion of curators, to include people who don’t have access, or don’t know they do, to the places. And though we focus on museums…we also look at exhibits, and other public displays of information. This is not a design or production class. The assignments are field trips to museums, readings, and writing. The classes are primarily discussion-driven and class participation is the major part of the grade.       Course Syllabus
• Collective Storytelling (H79.2706) - Marianne Petit
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2009
  This production course is centered around the examination and creation of collective storytelling environments. We survey a wide range of storytelling environments including site-specific works and environments, community-based arts projects, user-generated and participatory environments, and transmedia storytelling. This course requires field trips, weekly assignments, student presentations, and a final project.       Course Syllabus
• Computational Cameras (H79.2546) - Daniel O'Sullivan
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Computers should see. We depend most heavily on light to sense the world. As our experience is increasingly mediated through computers, it is not surprising that cameras have become an integral part of them. As computers become small, cheap and ubiquitous in laptops, cellphones and microcontrollers the cameras attached to them can gain coverage of every corner of life. This class looks at the possibilities and the computer software for getting a hold of the signals coming in from all these cameras. The class first looks getting images, integrating multiple views and transmitting them over a network. The class then turns to the more demanding programming required to process or analyzed the incoming image for such things as background removal, finding edges, for tracking objects. As a sensor, the video camera is appealing; delivering up to 36 million bytes every second compared to maybe 3 bytes from a keyboard. This requires a coding parsimony that can be used as a challenging exercise to improve a students general coding skills but the real difficulty of computer vision comes when you expect your software to be able to mimic the powers of the human brain to interpret arbitrary images. This class attempts to side step these very difficult parts by working in fairly contrived environments such as art installations, eye tracking rigs, and ant farms. The course uses Java in the Eclipse environment which is a good next step from the Processing environment. We look at implementing these techniques across platforms, including the desktop, the cellphone and even on a microcontroller. The class requires ICM or similar programming background.       Course Syllabus
• Crafting with Data: Revelations, Illusions, Truth and the Future (H79.2710) - Robert Faludi
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  Contemporary interaction designers and artists often manipulate scientific, historical, commercial and social information. Literacy in design, art or engineering requires the complement of literacy in data. This class makes a powerful addition to your existing skill set of programming, visual design and electronics. Students become conversant in the tools and methods for properly collecting data and evaluating it to uncover truths about the world. In this class we learn about the "lies, damn lies and statistics" that are encountered in our daily information feeds. Basic training is provided in a variety of handy methods for interpretation and manipulation of data, yet no math beyond some simple arithmetic is required for completing this course. Exercises include using sensors to gather data, employing information to answer questions, building physical models and using some very accessible computer tools. Short projects teach how to understand where data comes from, what it looks like and what it means. Students learn how to effectively and ethically extract information from the world, revealing the story that data has to tell.       Course Syllabus
• Creative Networking (H79.2736) - Harun Arikan
  Offered: Fall 2008
  This course focuses on the design of network protocols as a creative activity. Protocols organize networked systems ranging from low-level communication infrastructures (e.g., sensor networks, file-sharing networks, internet) to high-level organizations (e.g., markets, multi-player games, social networks). In addition to discussing ideas related to designing network architectures, the class focuses on developing the skills required for implementing networked systems, therefore participants work toward developing their computer programming skills. Students learn the most through creating many examples of networked systems. A series of workshops are taught in tandem with the course to facilitate your work.       Course Syllabus
• Dataflow Audio Programming (H79.2748) - Hans Steiner
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Graphical dataflow programming languages like the Max family (Pd aka Pure Data, Max/MSP, jMax, etc.) provide a more intuitive approach to media creation and manipulation. This paradigm is based on mapping out the flow of the data, which more closely mirrors the experience of realtime media. Pd has its roots in realtime audio programming and that is the core of the class. We start with the basics of Pd itself, and cover sampling, synthesis, processing, syncing video, sensor I/O, networking, and how to organize large projects. The Max paradigm is compared to text-based languages like Processing to provide an idea of their differences and similarities, as well as their respective strengths and weaknesses. This course is structured around learning by doing, so students have regular assignments to explore the ideas covered in class, as well as a final project. The focus is on Pd, but much of this knowledge is applicable to Max/MSP as well.       Course Syllabus
• Design Expo (H79.2274) - Nancy Hechinger
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Students address a design challenge that is presented at the start of the term. Over the course of the semester, students work in small teams to prototype and develop ideas in response to the challenge; classes take the form of critique sessions of these ideas and their presentation. This year's theme is still being finalized and it is likely that several other universities from various countries will also be participating in the Microsoft Design Expo. It is planned that one of the project teams from each university will be invited to present their work to the research and design groups at Microsoft in Redmond, WA over the summer.       Course Syllabus
• Design for One (H79.2712) - Marianne Petit, John Schimmel
  Offered: Fall 2008
  This course focuses on designing and prototyping for an individual who requires the infamous 'one-off' product that does not fit into the everyday design category. Student groups are matched with outside organizations and introduced to a person with a need that serves as the focus of the semester's project. The students work closely with the organizations and individuals to assess the problem, research possible solutions and build various prototypes for user testing. During the course, students research the social issues related to their design challenge; why does this problem exist, how common is this situation, and how does individual design differ from inclusive or universal design? As projects progress students are asked to generalize their solutions and define how a larger population might use their designs. The goal of the class is to bring student designers together with people in the community who need a specific 'one-off' working solution that is used by the individual and documented to share with similar organizations. The class requires introduction to physical computing and introduction to computational media.       Course Syllabus
• Design for UNICEF (H79.2758) - Clay Shirky
  Offered: Spring 2009, Fall 2009
  UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) takes on issues affecting the health, well-being and opportunities of children and youth around the world. Increasingly, this includes creating and managing novel communications tools, from online forums for youth journalism or story-telling to support for youth AIDS activists. It also includes physical design challenges like designing off-the-grid communications infrastructure. (A list of relevant projects can be found at Mepemepe.com) In this class, students examine some of the design challenges UNICEF faces, and work in groups to research and prototype possible extensions to existing efforts. The first third of the semester involves understanding the goals and constraints of various UNICEF projects, the middle third involves each workgroup selecting and developing a prototype project, and the final third involves soliciting user feedback and professional critique of that prototype. The class includes site visits and project crits from UNICEF technologists and field workers, and culminates in final presentations to members of the UNICEF staff.
• Designing Around Place (H79.2730) - Dennis Crowley, Michael Sharon
  Offered: Fall 2008
  Dopplr knows where you'll be next week. Dodgeball knows where you were last night. Google Maps on your iPhone knows where you're standing right now! So now what? This class is designed to experiment with the tools and technologies that are driving location-based services and the ways in which location data can be used to change the way we experience the world around us. The class focuses on existing location-aware applications and techniques (geocoding, geotagging, mapping, location tracking, proximity detection) and how they can be combined with existing data feeds and APIs to reinvent the tools, social apps and gaming concepts that we're already familiar with. Students experiment with various tools, techniques and data sets for accessing, pinpointing and storing location and learn how these technologies can be used to develop applications across multiple platforms - including mobile phones, laptops, navigation and gaming devices. Students are expected to build at least two working applications during the semester (midterm + final). Prior experience in dynamic web development (PHP / Python / Ruby / Perl + MySQL) is required as we start building in Week 2.       Course Syllabus
• Designing for Constraints (H79.2606) - Amit Pitaru
  Offered: Spring 2008
  Whether we design an application for the small touch-pad of a cell phone, a game for an elderly user, or produce art through a self-defined conviction, our work is often driven by constraints - some chosen, others imposed. With digital technologies, one other constraint is our own ability to keep up with the ever-shifting tools that we use. Does this perpetual learning-curve stifle our creative process? Or in contrast, can an abundance of technical know-how cloud a simple vision? The goal of this course is to make work that is fueled by the positive constraints (our audience, our vision) rather then the damaging ones (our lack of ability to know everything about the tools we use). Through weekly assignments, we draw ideas and production techniques from art, game design, music (sound-art), cognitive science and universal-design, towards an understanding of how to carry our initial ideas through a development process, without compromising quality and clarity of vision. For a final assignment students are asked to create a project for a specific target audience, defined by age/gender/race/culture and ability. The goal is to allow oneself a space for exploration while working towards a focused result. Some ideas for projects may include simplifying an application for the growing elderly population (can grandmama really use that fancy Nokia phone?), a software game based solely on audio (ever played doom without a monitor in a dark room?), or an art-piece that clearly conveys your artistic intentions with a digital medium (think of interactive art that’s not utterly frustrating/annoying for gallery goers). In either case, we test our work early and often (starting mid semester), learn to identify problems, and solve them through an iterative design process. When needed, software examples are programmed using Processing. We also use simple p-comp modules to quicken exploration (such as custom keyboard emulators). A fair understanding of ICM and P-comp is required, as you will be asked not to spend the majority of your energy learning new technologies, but rather make best of what you already know. That’s one of the course constraints.
• Designing for Emerging Media Platforms (H79.2726) - Richard Ting
  Offered: Fall 2008
  Zune is the new social music listening experience, Last.fm scrobbles your music library, Nokia devices come with unlimited music for a year, Nutsie lets you sling your iTunes library to your mobile phone, Netflix movies will be streamed directly into LG HDTVs, and Hulu is serving up fresh TV programming directly into your web browser. Suffice it to say, media consumption habits are being disrupted and enhanced by emerging technologies everyday. As designers living in this hyper-connected world, we are well positioned to dream up digital experiences that were never before possible. This course explores the unique aspects of designing experiences for emerging media platforms which require special attention given to ubiquity, accessibility, and social connectivity. Students in this course are challenged to re-define the future of the digital music listening experience in the first half of the semester, and then challenged to re-define the future of interactive tv on the web and/or mobile for their end of semester presentations. The class follows a rigorous design methodology that teaches students how to go from idea to conceptual prototype. Students work in small project teams of 3-5. Weekly classes are divided in two sections; the first to discuss topics relevant to emerging media design such as next generation user interface design, social media theory, open API development, mobile technologies, and multi-channel content distribution. Following each week’s topic, students are expected to present their project updates with open class discussion in the form of critique sessions. Students are expected to prototype a final project so prior experience with basic electronics, physical computing, web programming, and prototyping software (Adobe Flash is helpful, but not required.) The final project requires a working prototype with supporting design documentation. Executives from the advertising, media, and consumer electronics industries are invited to class to provide guest critiques and to speak about future trends within Emerging Media.       Course Syllabus
• Designing the Future of Television (H79.2784) - Richard Ting
  Offered: Fall 2009
  The television watching experience has radically transformed in the last several years. First technologies like TiVO and DVR allowed consumers to timeshift their viewing behavior. Then the Slingbox and services like BitTorrent allowed consumers to easily placeshift their viewing environments. Next, a wave of on-line services like YouTube, Joost, Hulu, Boxee, and Netflix introduced an unlimited supply of on-demand content ranging from short-form user generated content to weekly TV shows to long-form movies. As these technologies proliferated, the epicenter of the TV watching experience quickly shifted from in front of your HDTV in your living room to anywhere, everywhere, and anytime – on your TV, PC, or mobile device. However, the continued disruption of television has only just begun as we now move into the era of Social TV. What had started as a two-screen experience (Facebooking on laptop + waching TV) has now become a one-screen experience. (see Barack Obama’s inauguration viewing on CNN.com). Additionally, services like FiOS TV and Yahoo! are introducing widget platforms that allow designers and developers to integrate Twitter and Facebook into the TV watching experience. As a result, designers and developers are able to explore a myriad of social TV possibilities. In this class, students are challenged to design the future of television as they follow a rigorous design methodology that teaches them how to go from idea to functional prototype. Students conduct user research, create user personas, create conceptual user journeys, and wireframe their concepts before beginning prototype work. Students work in small project teams of 2-3 and weekly classes cover design methodology and various topics relevant to the future of television such as next generation user interface design, social TV, and TV on mobile devices. Each week, students are expected to present their project updates with open class discussion in the form of critique sessions. The students are expected to prototype a final project so prior experience with web programming, and prototyping software (Adobe Flash) is helpful, but not required. The final project requires a functional prototype with supporting design documentation. Executives from the advertising, media, and consumer electronics industries are invited to class to provide guest critiques and to speak about future trends within television.       Course Syllabus
• Developing Assistive Technology (H79.2446) - John Schimmel, Anita Perr
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Assistive or Adaptive Technology commonly refers to "products, devices or equipment, whether acquired commercially, modified or customized, that are used to maintain, increase or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities." This multi-disciplinary course allows students from a variety of backgrounds to work together to develop assistive technology. Partnering with outside organizations students work in teams to identify a clinical need relevant to a certain clinical site or client population, and learn the process of developing an idea and following that through to the development of a prototype product. Teams are comprised of ITP students as well as graduate rehabilitation, physical and occupational therapy students. Prerequisites (for ITP students): H79.2233 Introduction to Computational Media and H79.2301 Introduction to Physical Computing.       Course Syllabus
• Digital Imaging: Reset (H79.2550) - Eric Rosenthal
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Digital cameras and printers are making photography more ubiquitous and more useful than ever. This course is a workshop that looks at changing the rules for capturing and printing digital imagery. By gaining a better understanding of the engineering fundamentals and limitations of digital photography, students can produce breathtaking images with all the benefits of digital media but with an image quality that rivals film. Students experiment using low cost, hands-on tips and tricks in software and hardware to capture high dynamic range, expanded color, night color, 3D, time lapse, and stop motion images using a digital camera and printer. While using mostly off-the-shelf tools, these experiments require students to dig down to see the nitty-gritty of today's and tomorrow's technologies for digitally sensing, encoding, compressing, transmitting and displaying images.       Course Syllabus
• Digital Sound Lab (H79.2266) - Dan Palkowski
  Offered: Summer1 2009
  This course is aimed towards providing the student with a basic knowledge of principles and practices of digital audio from a creative perspective. Each class has both an ‘analog’ and a digital component, the former providing the student with an understanding of audio fundamentals (mics, mixers, recording devices, etc.) and the latter focusing on several popular software audio tools and peripherals (Ableton Live, Audacity, Soundhack, etc.). The curriculum is flexible, based on the experience level and needs of the participants. This is a dynamic field, and ITP students bring many disciplines to the table. Through demonstrations, class discussions and assignments, the goal is to ensure that students are capable of bringing professional quality audio into their projects, and to introduce them to the underlying concepts that are found in digital production tools, regardless of brand. The final project is a short audio work which successfully employs the tools and concepts learned.       Course Syllabus
• Digital Sound Workshop: MIDI and Synthesis (H79.2284) - Dan Palkowski
  Offered: Summer2 2009
  This class is complementary to Digital Sound Lab, with a stronger focus on interactive (non-narrative) use of sound. The principle tool to be explored is Cycling 74’s MaxMSP 5, as well as similar signal processing software (RTCMix, for example). No previous experience with MaxMSP is necessary, though a general familiarity with audio is helpful. Linking Max with other applications (Ableton Live, etc.) and extending it’s functionality through MIDI, AU and VST plugins are explored, as well as a thorough study of the parts and concepts of electronic synthesis. We also examine software synths in detail such as Propellerhead’s Reason and deconstruct some of the modules to gain an understanding of UI challenges in designing interactive, responsive instruments. The MIDI specification is covered in some detail, and class discussion key in on exploring both it’s brilliance and limitations as a music control medium. We will also examine OSC and see how it has addressed those MIDI weaknesses. The final project is an interactive piece or demonstration using one or more of the tools covered.       Course Syllabus
• Digital Writing with Python (H79.2778 ) - Adam Parrish
  Offered: Summer2 2009
  This course introduces the Python programming language as a tool for reading and writing digital text. This course is specifically geared to serve as a general-purpose introduction to programming in Python, but will be of special interest to students interested in poetics, language, creative writing and text analysis. Weekly programming exercises work toward a midterm project and culminate in a final project. Poetics topics covered include: character encodings (and other technical issues); cut-up and re-mixed texts; the algorithmic nature of poetic form (proposing poetic forms, generating text that conforms to poetic forms); transcoding/transcription (from/to text); generative algorithms: n-gram analysis, context-free grammars; performing digital writing. Programming topics covered include: object-oriented programming; functional programming (list comprehensions, recursion); getting data from the web; displaying data on the web; parsing data formats (e.g., markup languages); and text visualization with Processing. Prerequisites: Introduction to Computational Media or equivalent programming experience.       Course Syllabus
• Drawing Machines (H79.2688) - David Nolen
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2009
  Norbert Weiner (the pioneering cyberneticist) spoke of an electronic machine that could reproduce itself. Such an electronic machine would produce an image of itself and this image would be the instructions required to produce the next machine. Though clearly a truthful statement about the state of the art, it is also a quality immanent in Nature. Even ephemeral qualities such as ideas are machines, and in the case of humans, one could reasonably argue that the act of drawing is the most powerful replicator of the idea. Without drawing we would not have high art, composed music, written language, architectural plans, far-reaching spacecraft, software, embedded computers, i.e. the entire cultural-technological world as we know it today. From this broad viewpoint as a ground, the class requires the student to actively pursue a critical understanding of their own artistic practice. The student is expected to create many different kinds of drawings whether by hand, by machine, or by computation. Class discussions revolve around this creative output as well as drawing upon the writings of Walter Benjamin, Deleuze & Guattari, Paul Klee, Agnes Martin, Sol Lewitt, Catherine De Zegher, Stephen Wolfram, Jeanne Boylan, Norbert Wiener, and others.       Course Syllabus
• Dynamic Web Development (H79.2296) - Christopher Sung
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009
  How does one move away from creating static websites and toward building active, evolving hubs of activity? This class covers the design and implementation of the "dynamic" website in two distinct but related contexts: the technical aspects of manipulating content "on the fly", and the end user experience of interacting in this type of setting. Particular attention is given to social and community-based web interaction. The production environment consists of the MySQL database and the PHP programming language. Students can expect to develop a firm knowledge of database design and optimization, the SQL query language, and the use of PHP to create dynamic activity of both orthodox and unorthodox nature. Late-semester topics focus on interfacing this environment with other technologies such as JavaScript and Flash, along with data population and site architecture methodology. Introduction to Computational Media or equivalent programming experience is required. Students are also expected to have fluency in HTML or to come up to speed with it outside of class. Class requirements include homework assignments to reinforce each week's concepts while simultaneously contributing to the student's "toolkit" of code and design principles. There is also a midterm project, and a final project of the student's choosing. Given the wide range of applications that would benefit from a web-accessible database, students should feel free to use their project(s) from this class to support or enhance projects from other classes.       Course Syllabus
• Election 2008: Social Software and User Generated Media (H79.2740) - Clay Shirky
  Offered: Fall 2008
  The fall US presidential election offers an unprecedented opportunity to understand the ways networks, both electronic and social, are changing the political landscape. The electoral process has been transformed by the amount of information citizens now have, the ability of those citizens to create and distribute media, and the ease of fund-raising and vote drives. All of these changes are accompanied by a socialization of media generally, where citizens are operating not just as individual consumers of news and producers of votes, but are talking and working in formal and informal groups as well. Election 2008 will examine the ongoing presidential election, focusing on the way new tools from YouTube and Facebook to GovTrack and Iowa Prediction Markets are altering the way this election is proceeding. After a brief introduction to the oddities of American presidential politics, we will concentrate on three areas: new sources of politically relevant information, and especially open source databases; new environments for citizen-to-citizen political discussion and involvement; and user-generated content. The class will use a new format, a mix of large group lectures and small group work, both observing existing tools and media outlets and either participating in existing communities or creating new tools or media. Each group will present to the class three times during the semester. We will have several invited guests who are examining or working on the campaigns during the semester. Because the election takes place on November 4, the course will end with a post-mortem of the election, and predictions of future directions in electoral tools. Note: This course will meet at 19 West 4th Street, room 101.
• Electronic Project Development Studio (H79.2814) - Eric Rosenthal
  Offered: Fall 2009
  This class is an environment for students to work on their own electronic project ideas that may fall outside the topic areas of existing classes. This particular studio is focused on projects involving electronics. Students are required to present a project description on the first day of class. They then work together with the class and the instructor to develop a production plan for their project. Class meetings consist of critique and feedback sessions on individual or group projects, and breakout sessions with students working individually or in groups of people working on similar projects. When technical topics of general interest emerge, they will be covered in class. Students are expected to show their projects multiple times during the semester, test the projects in stages, and get feedback from both class members in class and from the audience for whom their projects are intended outside of class.
• Fabricating Information (H79.2608) - Mark Collins, Toru Hasegawa
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Replacing a constellation of expensive and specialized machines to cut, fold, and aggregate material, flexible "computer numerical controlled" (or CNC) machines are increasingly finding their way into different arenas of material production. These machines, using lasers, spindles, glue, high-pressure water, and plasma are able to translate digital forms and patterns directly into material processes. The seminar functions as both an introduction to different CNC + prototyping equipment as well as a studio in which to test the possibilities and constraints of these new methods of production. Using 3D-printing, laser cutting and milling, as well as a series of different 3D modeling platforms, we develop a language of “making” that can be brought to bear on construction at multiples scales, including product design, installation and architecture.       Course Syllabus
• Flash of Flash (H79.2714) - Muon Thi Van, Veronique Brossier
  Offered: Fall 2008, Spring 2009
  This course is an introduction to ActionScript 3 as an object oriented language and the tools used (Flash, Flex, AIR) to develop applications running into the Flash player with a particular focus on its creative potential. The approach is to develop a complete application every class from concept to developing and testing. Topics include user interaction and the concept of events and listeners, animation and sprite manipulation, audio, video and use of Adobe components, dynamic data support and the net and xml packages, text manipulation and the text engine. Note: This two point course will meet for seven sessions on the following dates: January 23, January 30, February 6, February 13, February 20, February 27, and March 27.       Course Syllabus
• Frame By Frame: Creation and Manipulation of the Moving Image (H79.2716) - Christopher Kairalla
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  Thanks to modern day computers and software, we now have a very high degree of control over digital images and video. Non-Linear editors allow us to easily assemble sequential images on the frame level while image manipulation programs give us the power to change images on the pixel level. By using techniques from animation, special effects, video editing, and programming, we break images apart and reassemble them into new moving imagery. Our primary tool is Adobe After Effects but we also explore the algorithms behind image manipulation so that students might integrate the techniques into their own code. Student’s assignments can either be pre-rendered animation, or real- time/ interactive animation. Grades are based on weekly assignments, a midterm project, and a final project. Class participation and discussion are also required. No previous knowledge of After Effects is necessary, but students should be relatively comfortable with Photoshop. Experience with non- linear editing is a plus, but not required. Students must have completed either one animation class, or one post-ICM programming class.       Course Syllabus
• Frameworks for Interactive Sound (H79.2436) - Jeffrey Feddersen
  Offered: Spring 2008
  This course introduces the student to an array of critical and practical frameworks for creating technologically-based audio works. Drawing from an inclusive perspective of technology and sound throughout history, the coursework is based on in-depth dissections of specific tools, compositions, instruments and installations. Hands-on work is enriched with an equal component of critical reading and discussion. Outside of class students will maintain an audio "sketchbook" with which they will exhibit working knowledge of a range of concepts through the execution of small, simple exercises. Students are expected to be conversant in at least one digital audio platform such as Max/MSP, csound, pd, JSyn, or equivalent, and to be familiar with fundamentals of digital audio as covered in Digital Sound Lab (H79.2266).       Course Syllabus
• Future of the Infrastructure (H79.2297) - Art Kleiner
  Offered: Fall 2009
  Can the future be foretold?  No, but the long-term outcomes of present-day actions can be foreseen -- and, as the 2008 economic crisis showed us, lack of foresight can have grave implications. Using a technique called scenario planning, students consider the present and future ramifications of knotty, large-scale problems related to the evolution of the internet and other aspects of the telecommunications infrastructure. In exploring this, we touch upon the global economy, demographics, international politics, environmental concerns, and other large-scale issues.  Scenario planning is a rigorous but highly engaging technique, in which people share information and judgment to create a picture of the future larger than any individual could produce alone.  The technique has been used since the mid-1950s decades to distinguish certainties from uncertainties, and to learn to be prepared for multiple eventualities. Students will conduct original research on significant trends, use those trends to develop compelling, plausible stories about possible futures, and present the futures - and the strategies they suggest - to a public audience. As part of the process that we co-develop, the class explores theories about system dynamics, organizational and societal change, the causes of economic failure and success, and the nature of technology.       Course Syllabus
• Game Design (H79.2272) - Frank Lantz, Staff, Kevin Cancienne
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Summer2 2009
  This class begins with the premise that game design is a discipline that transcends the media or tools with which any particular game is created. In this hands-on workshop students learn techniques and approaches they can apply to solve design problems in games of any format -- from board games to digital games to real world games. Students analyze existing games to understand how they work as interactive systems; create a number of non-digital games in order to master the basic design principles that apply to all games regardless of format; critique each other's work, developing the communication skills necessary for thriving in this often multi-disciplinary, collaborative field; develop techniques for rapid prototyping and iterative design; and explore the creative possibilities of this emerging field from formal, social, and cultural perspectives.       Course Syllabus
• Game Studies (H79.2766) - Charles Pratt
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Games are as old as human society, if not older, and the past thirty years has seen an explosion of creativity from this once 'invisible' art form. With the popularization of the computer, games have come to occupy a larger and larger part of the mind-share of modern culture. This in turn has inspired the range of voices that have stepped forward to examine the phenomenon of games and its artifacts. In this class we survey the major work that has been done to understand games, both digital and traditional, in the past sixty years. Starting with foundational texts by historian Johan Huizinga and sociologist Roger Caillois, up to the present day where movements like 'New Games Journalism' seek to place games in the more personal context of a single human life. While the class seeks to understand games from theoretical and historical perspectives, the focus is on students bringing their own interpretations to bear. Through short essays and presentations students connect theory to real world examples and develop their own opinions and perspectives through discussion with other students. This class is for anyone interested in understanding the history of games and the enormous world of thought that surrounds them.       Course Syllabus
• GL Art (H79.2548) - Mark Napier
  Offered: Fall 2008
  This course explores OpenGL as an artistic medium. The computer provides artists with a bewildering variety of options for creating images: image editors, 3D modelling tools, animation tools, and dozens of programming languages. Yet at the lower level of all computer rendering lies a relatively simple and very powerful graphics processor. OpenGL provides access to this lower level of rendering, and gives artists the opportunity to create their own "brush and canvas", to produce high performance animated graphics in both 3D and 2D. The purpose of this course is to introduce OpenGL and provide a working knowledge of this powerful API. Though we explore OpenGL briefly through Processing, in most of the course we use Java, Eclipse and an OpenGL library to develop graphical applications.  Through hands-on programming examples we explore basic concepts of OpenGL such as coordinate systems, navigating in a 3D space, cameras, rendering models, mouse and keyboard input, lighting, texturing and blending. The course consists of weekly programming assignments and a final project. This class is intended for students who are comfortable with programming. Prerequisites: Programming in Java and/or Processing.       Course Syllabus
• Graphical User Interface Design in AJAX (H79.2604) - David Nolen
  Offered: Fall 2008
  After the liberating bombshell of the Macintosh in 1984, the Graphical User Interface has been in steady decline ever since. That is until two web based programs, GMail and Google Maps proved that there were further interface possibilities to be discovered and they would not be tied to the fate of any particular desktop. As a result, Javascript, once ghettoized, has become the darling of the Web 2.0 world. This class covers a broad selection of technical subjects concerning Asynchronous Javascript and XML (AJAX) including: advanced Javascript, DOM manipulation, Google Maps API, XSLT, JSON, RPC, XMLHttpRequest, and the various available AJAX frameworks (GWT, Prototype, Dojo, jQuery, etc.) Students are expected to be proficient in at least one other programming language. There are small exercises assigned for each class to ensure that the techniques are understood and mastered. Students are encouraged to either build a small project or to incorporate their new knowledge into projects from other classes such as Dynamic Web Development. In full, the class covers enough information for the student to build their own Google Maps yet retain a conceptual framework that can be applied in designing anything from the next best Web 2.0 service to the most radical net-art happening since Jodi hijacked Netscape.       Course Syllabus
• If Products Could Tell Their Stories: Towards a Model of Sustainable Design (H79.2738) - Jennifer van der Meer
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Is there lead in my nephew’s toy? Does my new HDTV have a much greater impact on global warming than my old TV? When I finally recycle those old cell phones and computers that have been collecting dust in my closet, where will they be taken, and will anything or anyone be harmed as they are recycled? Without answers to these questions that people are seeking, there are limits to the role consumption can play in our shift to a more sustainable economic model. As product developers, designers, tinkerers, and technologists, we have the means to uncover these answers, and communicate the backstories of the things that we make. The objective of this course is to explore sustainable models, methods, and practices of both production and consumption. The class explores an interaction design model proposed by Bruce Sterling’s Shaping Things, in which he implores, “Designers must design, not just for objects or for people, but for the technosocial interactions that unite people and objects.” Additional content exposes students to the relationship between production, consumption, and impacts to the earth’s ecosystem and human health. Students learn how to analyze product/service systems and are expected to perform a Life Cycle Analysis based on the Okala Design framework. Students also are asked to investigate and communicate a product backstory to an existing product. The final exercise of the course involves the creation of a new product/service system that provides a framework for users to affect and modulate the environmental and social impacts throughout their relationship with that object. Class participation is required and group projects are encouraged. Note: This course meets for 12 sessions beginning Monday, January 25.       Course Syllabus
• Industrial Design Workshop (H79.2474) - Tucker Viemeister
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  The objective of this workshop is to make more beautiful things. Industrial Designer professionals give shape to new technology, creating mass-produced things like trains, cars, appliances, furniture, medical equipment, toys, packaging, corporate identity -- any user interface. The methodology based on scientific problem analysis with a user-centered perspective applies to any media. This integration of problem solving and creative inspiration in the hands of talented people is a very powerful tool, so powerful that Victor Papanek, author of Design for the Real World, says Industrial Design is “the most dangerous profession.” By building a set of projects that explore materials, processes and aesthetics, you will apply a three phases of design process: 1. explore, 2. sketch, and 3.make. Class critiques focus on improving the product communication and looks, so we can be as good as we can! This two-point course meets every other week beginning on Wednesday, January 28.       Course Syllabus
• Information Contours (H79.2231) - Marc Libarle
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  We hear a great deal about neural networks, social computing, intuitive algorithms, and Web 2.0 and 3.0 to name a few of the exciting new information based techniques that are lighting up contemporary culture. What do these tools have in common -- just focusing information? Why are these digital tools generating so much economic, social and political buzz? Do they represent a shift away from an individualistic to a communal civic culture? Does this signify a nascent ‘information society’ dependent on an ‘information state’ to regulate phenomenon such as ‘net neutrality’? Information Contours explores the nature of the information flows that are generated by evolving, innovating, IT and the role of an emerging ‘information state’. For example, will the current economic crisis, with its collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps, signal the onset of new digital economic information tools that will be government mandated to track risk and verify financial products? As the variations of IT (computers, telephony, bio-engineering, software, ecology, DNA, surveillance, simulation, mapping, etc.) increase the quantity of, and applications for, information in society, the cultural, social, economic, political, legal, and ethical ramifications multiply. This class explores these interactions through diverse readings that stimulate class discussion of these exciting topics. IT now suggests the contours that information assumes as the lifeblood of democracy. Yet information, this assumed basic ingredient of democracy, is increasingly produced, manufactured, privatized, and marketed as a commodity. What is “intellectual property” and what role does copyright and patent protection play in expanding or constricting accessible information? Has the free flow of information been undermined by the increasing application and expansion of copyright and patent law to further the privatization, commodification and control of information? As IT becomes more ubiquitous and embedded in culture, transformative issues arise as to its applicability, extension and direction. Civil society is experiencing a shift in the value of information including its nomenclature, applications, and its normative function. Progress in IT increasingly focuses our attention on the way in which information influences culture and thereby informs contemporary democracy. What is the relation between information flows, culture, economics, government, and democracy? Note: This two-point class meets every other Friday beginning January 23. Note: This two-point class will meet every other Friday beginning January 23.
• Interactive Documentary (H79.2412) - Ruth Sergel
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Interactive documentaries provide radical new possibilities for both community creation and active audience engagement. This class explore the history of the documentary form through photography, oral history, film/video, performance and current hybrid projects. Interactive Documentary is a production class. Weekly experiments in creating documentaries are supported by lectures, viewing of non-traditional works and learning the necessary audio/video & projection tools. Assignments focus on developing works whose creation mirrors the themes we are seeking to explore. In the past documentaries were created with an expectation of the audience operating as passive consumers. Interactive documentaries enable us to dream new possibilities with audiences actively participating in the work. Note: This course meets for 12 sessions beginning Monday, January 25.
• Interactive Screens and Cinematic Objects (H79.2572) - Marina Zurkow
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  What does it mean to create cinematic works? What are the limits of the term “cinema,” and what are its possibilities? Will it be story-based, formalist, or symbolic? How does interactivity impact narrative perception, rhythm and arc? Is an interface user-driven or machine-driven? Multi-linear or singular? Screen or object based? Do we want to work for our stories? Is it possible to make profound or emotional narrative work in a multi-linear or interactive environment? The creation and evaluation of work in this class pivots on the notion of narrative perception: a viewer’s desire to actively make story out of represented moments, from Chaplin’s silent movies to US Army recruitment ads to Smithson’s Spiral Jetty. The emphasis of this class is on art practices, focusing on sculptural and screen-based installation forms rather than commercial applications. More conceptual than technical, more narrative than formal, students work on the creation of time-based projects through short and medium-length assignments. Students work in a range of media, from paper maps to multiple screens. In addition, students are expected to engage in critical dialogue through individual research and presentation of precedents, from new media art projects, readings, and experimental or mainstream film.       Course Syllabus
• Interactive Storytelling and Alternative Reality Games (H79.2684) - Gregory Trefry
  Offered: Spring 2008
  This class gives an introduction to interactive and game storytelling techniques through the production of Alternative Reality Games. Alternative Reality Games (ARGs) have emerged as a popular and effective form of interactive story over the past ten years. During that time they have been used for everything from marketing movies to raising awareness about the effects of oil. Designers (or puppetmasters, as they say) have used a variety of media, including videos on YouTube, entire fictional blogs, characters embedded in MySpace, even scavenger hunts to create narrative experiences. In this class we look at specific traditional stories, classic non-linear fiction and ARGs, drawing out lessons for creating interactive narratives and then quickly move into the the production of Alternative Reality Games. We work in small teams to apply narrative techniques from role-playing, improvisation, non-linear storytelling and adventure games to the development of interactive fiction in the form of ARGs. This class is not designed to simply produce writers of ARGs, but to give students a grasp of the challenges surrounding interactive storytelling while also providing practical experience in developing and writing content. ( Game, Story )       Course Syllabus
• Introduction to Interactive 3D & Virtual Spaces (H79.2302) - Jean-Marc Gauthier
  Offered: Spring 2008
  This class offers a clear understanding of the steps needed to design 3D interactive content from conceptual clay models, storyboards and sketches to 3D modeling and character animation. Students are invited to explore the unique feeling of being immersed in a virtual environment by creating new types of viewer's experiences. Students will create virtual spaces using Maya, Virtools and other media such as video, 3D sculptures, light, photographs, music, text, graphics, 2D animation and interactivity. The class covers topics including sensors and input devices for real time animation; shaders and 3D paint; virtual cameras and storytelling (involving the non-linear approach); artificial intelligence and autonomous interactive characters. Students will receive a CDRom with tutorials and hands-on examples for the class. Students with no prior knowledge of 3D and/or programming can use templates (reusable building blocks and behaviors) in order to focus on content rather than coding. Students prepare weekly assignments and a final project. A syllabus with questions and answers can be found at http://www.tinkering.net/vr/       Course Syllabus
• Little Computers (H79.2750) - David Nolen
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Apple sold the iPhone as a phone, but its buyers use it as a little computer. In no time, hackers cracked the phone and found it to be not much different than their OS X based laptops and desktops. The cute device runs a mature UNIX based operating system and it supports most of Apple’s object-oriented API, Cocoa. The class covers object oriented programming, C/Objective-C/Objective-C++, scripting languages, OS X internals, Interface Builder, and XCode. The Cocoa and Cocoa Touch APIs covered include: Quartz, OpenGL, Core Location, CFNetwork (wifi), as well open source frameworks such as GData (Google) and XMPPFramework (Jabber). We'll also explore the rapid developing OpenFrameworks port for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Access to a Mac running OS X 10.5 is the minimum requirement, but having a real Cocoa Touch device like the iPhone or the iPod Touch to test on will make the class more enjoyable. The class is highly technical in nature and is geared to intermediate to advanced programmers, or /extremely/ dedicated beginners. That said, the goal of the course is to actively and creatively explore this new field of little computers using the iPhone as the main research platform.
• Live Image Processing and Performance (H79.2422) - Roger DuBois
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2009, Summer2 2009
  This course teaches the ins and outs of using image processing software with an aim towards some type of real-time use (e.g. a performance or installation). The class looks at ways to manipulate different visual media (time-based, still, vector, and rendered) in real-time to allow students to develop interesting real-time performance systems. While the focus of this class is on using Max for visual work (through a software package called Jitter), it also looks at how to integrate interactive elements (sound, physical interfaces, etc.) into the work. Class time is spent on interface design and software development issues as well. The class explores some interesting capabilities of the software in terms of real-time camera input and tracking, generative graphics systems, and media transcoding. Throughout the class students develop and share ideas on live performance as a medium for visual expression, and learn the software tools necessary to put these ideas into practice in the form of idiosyncratic performance systems. A final presentation in the form of a group performance will be arranged. Students should have some working knowledge of Max/MSP before taking this class.       Course Syllabus
• Live Web (H79.2734) - Shawn Van Every
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  The World Wide Web has grown up to be a great platform for asynchronous communication such as email and message boards. More recently this has extended into media posting and sharing. With the rise of broadband, more powerful computers and the prevalence networked media devices, synchronous communications have become more viable. Streaming media, audio and video conference rooms and text based chat give us the ability to create content and services tailored to a live audience. During this course, we focus on the types of content and interaction that can be supported through these technologies as well as explore new concepts around participation with a live distributed audience. In this course, we look at new and existing platforms for live communication on the web. We leverage existing services and use Flash, PHP, AJAX and possibly Processing/Java to develop our own solutions. Experience with ActionScript/Flash, PHP/MySQL and HTML/ JavaScript are helpful but not required.       Course Syllabus
• Living Art (H79.2534) - Todd Holoubek
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Generative Art creates a process of evolution, where most art imitates life, generative art has a life of it’s own. This is a class that combines Physical Computing and Generative Art, providing an environment for students interested in pursuing an artistic outlet for their physical computing skills. Generative Art has been chained to the personal computer for too long. What would happen if we took the methods employed in software art and applied them to the physical world through sensors and reactive elements? or like Ned Kahn’s piece “Wind”, apply laws of nature to physical works? In this class we apply simple rules to dictate the shape or function of a work and add to it an inherent complexity that is both beautiful and intelligent. By combining the simple rules, or a system, with physical computing, we are marrying the work to the intention of the artist. This helps us define what we are doing when we create, it takes the assignments beyond exercises in executing basic electronics and drives it to an intention. The challenge for this class exists in taking this approach away from the personal computer and applying it to the physical world. In some cases it is very clear how we can apply the Generative methods in the use of motors or light grids, but how do we apply fuzzy logic? Where do we use the Golden Section with an FSR, proximity sensor or how do we create algorithmic motion in the physical world? This class is for students who have completed Intro to Physical Computing.       Course Syllabus
• Mainstreaming Information (H79.2592) - Lisa Strausfeld, Christian Schmidt
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Information sources that have the power to impact our day-to-day lives on topics such as global and domestic politics, health, the economy, and the environment, are now readily available online. The best information design work is still primarily relegated to obscure journals and websites, and asks too much from the viewer. This workshop aims to bring information sources we all care about into the mainstream. Our goal is to explore how selective streams of information can be sited and expressed in a way that not only creates engagement on the part of the viewer, but inspires action. Students work on a two-part semester-long design project based on an information source of their choice. Basic programming or action-script skills are required. The class is conducted as a design studio with bi-monthly critiques. It includes seminar discussions and guest visits by experts in the design profession. All aspects of visual communication are addressed, with an emphasis on typography, layout, color, and motion. Students need not have any formal design training, but should come with a particular interest in and commitment to honing their design skills. Note: This course meets for 12 sessions beginning Monday, January 26.
• Mashups: Remixing the Web (H79.2802) - Daniel Maynes Aminzade
  Offered: Fall 2009
  What does DJ Danger Mouse have in common with a modern web application developer? Mashups! A hallmark of Web 2.0, mashup applications draw upon content retrieved from external data services to create entirely new and innovative applications. This introductory course explores what it means to be a web mashup, the different classes of popular mashups, and the enabling technologies needed to create mashup applications. Through projects and hands-on tutorials, students learn about the practical tools and technologies they need to remix digital content using XML, AJAX, and web service APIs such as Flickr, Delicious, and the Google Maps API. Students are expected to have some basic programming experience, but no experience with web technologies is required.       Course Syllabus
• Materials and Building Strategies (H79.2025) - Peter Menderson
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  You’ve built a foam prototype. Your project idea is now out in the open sitting on a table where you and your teammates can look at it. It’s not quite what you thought it would be when you made your first rough sketch, there’s even something a little goofy about it, but then there’s also that interesting curve that you hadn’t envisioned. Your teammates have also noticed some things that you hadn’t thought of. You see where you can reshape the foam to make the prototype both look and work better. You’ve made your first step; you’ve moved your project forward. Removing barriers to creative problem solving and learning the steps for advancing a project are the dual purposes of this course. You’re asked to make things over and over during your time at ITP. This class helps you to break out of 2-d screen and keyboard thinking and take advantage of the discoveries that inevitably occur when you're thinking in 3-d by manipulating materials with your hands, observing the results, and refining successive iterations of your idea. From techniques for prototyping and making small objects to fabrication methods for kiosks, you’ll get hands-on experience with a variety of materials and methods. You have an idea for a wearable device? Mock it up with the sewing machine. You're thinking about a squeezable children’s toy with sensors? Make a mold and cast some sensors inside soft rubber. You want to build an installation? Make a foam core model of the space and get a valuable preview of your project installed. During the course you'll be introduced to building in a variety of materials. You’ll make objects of wood, foam, plastic, metal, clay, plaster, rubber, paper and fabric. You’ll move a project from sketch to prototype to presentation and learn to incorporate the lessons of the process into your final product. By taking notice of the unexpected your original concept will evolve, and amplified by those revelations it will surprise you and delight your audience.       Course Syllabus
• Mechanisms and Things That Move (H79.2624) - Dustyn Roberts
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  This class is designed to equip the student with a basic knowledge of mechanical engineering, materials, and component selection for practical use. Emphasis will be placed on finding and using affordable,everyday components for the hobbyist. Real-world, professional level components and technologies will also be covered in case studies and class examples. From kinetic sculptures to modern architecture, from product design to interactive art, learning how to create sound mechanical interfaces between inputs and outputs to a system helps us interpret and interact with our environments. There is little use in building effective circuitry for physical computing if the mechanism to be controlled is too weak to handle the task set forth for it. Systems can also be optimized and protected from expensive over-engineering with a basic knowledge of mechanics and materials. A breadth of topics will be covered ranging from how to attach couplers and shafts to a motor to converting between rotary and linear motion. Many topics will be presented in the form of competition, challenges, or group installations. Weekly lectures will be supplemented by in class demos and out of class lab work. Both Individual and group work will be required. Prerequisite: Intro to Physical Computing       Course Syllabus
• Media Architecture – Where the Physical and Virtual Meet (H79.2704) - Eli Kuslansky
  Offered: Spring 2008
  At the intersections of the virtual worlds of represented knowledge/experience and the physical world of the built environment is media architecture- an evolving field of expression that combines art, technology and architecture. Artists, architects and technologists, primarily in Europe and Asia are creating seminal artworks with large scale displays, micro processor controlled L.E.D. and fluorescent lighting systems, and ambient responsive environments in large installations and building projects. In Media Architecture, students explore new vehicles for innovative multimedia, the requirements and art forms of large scale display systems, and how to design content, visualizations, and simulations for these systems from real-time data feeds, and narrowcast networks. This is an ideal opportunity for artists to create pieces in this new medium while opening a broader field for their work. Students are expected to create bi-weekly assignments for review, including a team. Final projects are expected with the possibility of displaying them on a large scale system through an agreement with an outside venue.
• Media, Economics, and Participation (H79.2994) - Clay Shirky
  Offered: Fall 2009
  Making words and images public used to be difficult, complex, and expensive. Now it's not. That change, simple but fundamental, is transforming the media landscape. A publisher used to be required if you wanted to put material out into the public sphere; now anyone with a keyboard or a camera can circulate their material globally. This change in the economics of communication has opened the floodgates to a massive increase in the number and variety of participants creating and circulating media. This change, enormous and permanent, is driving several profound effects in the media landscape today. This course covers the transition from a world populated by professional media makers and a silent public to one where anyone who has a phone or a computer can be both producer and consumer. This change, brought about by the technological and economic characteristics of digital data and networks, is upending old industries -- newspapers, music publishing, moviemaking -- faster than new systems can be put in place. The result is chaos and experimentation as new ways of participating in the previously sparse media landscape are appearing everywhere. This course covers the history and economics of the previous media landscape, the design of digital networks that upend those historical systems, and new modes of participation from weblogs and wikis and Twitter to fan fiction and lolcats. The course centers on readings and field observation, with three papers due during the course of the term.
• Mediated Intimacy: Closeness and Distance (H79.2798) - Kio Stark
  Offered: Fall 2009
  The experience of intimacy across distances is at least as old as the technology of the letter. Since then, every new technology of connection produces new ways of initiating, enriching and sustaining intimacy. These new developments are often perceived simultaneously as creating distance and bridging distance. Because the invention of technologies of intimacy is a perennial pursuit at ITP, the goal of the class is to enrich students' ability to create meaningful and successful projects related to intimacy. Students gain a studied and nuanced understanding of the idea of intimacy and the physical and emotional experiences associated with it— as well as examining how existing and cutting-edge technologies work to connect intimates across the physical and metaphorical distances they routinely experience in everyday life. The first section of the course is devoted to studying intimacy, bonding, attachment, longing and desire from a variety of perspectives. These will include psychology and psychoanalysis— e.g.: Freud, Erich Fromm, Lacan, Kristeva, John Bowlby on attachment, Jessica Benjamin on bonding, Donald Winnicott on intersubjectivity; recent neuroscience, neurochemistry, and evolutionary biology related to intimacy and bonding; and recent psychological work specifically regarding intimacy and the internet. The second section of the course focuses on current art and technology projects— along with commercial ventures— that explore mediated intimacy across distances (the examples are legion). We scrutinize these projects to understand what they do right and what they do wrong. And we investigate the language and syntax of mediated intimacy, including attempts to incorporate each of (or combinations of) the human senses into devices of connectedness. In seeking to articulate what makes a meaningful mediated experience of intimacy, the course also looks at a group of edge cases— for example, personal performances in public (from web-cam girls to performance art)— that support asymmetrical intimacies. Through this process, we attempt to define a set of possible methods from which to create work. Classwork includes short papers throughout the semester and a final research paper or research-based project proposal.       Course Syllabus
• Metaforms (H79.2654) - Dana Karwas
  Offered: Fall 2008
  Metaforms is a studio course offering a broad range of topics focused on progressive architectural discourse framed by new media. The goal of the class is for each student to produce an architectural form which inhabits an urban public space in New York City. The forms need not be traditional architectural constructs, but new strategies towards defining an architecture that can be expressed through new technologies. Students are encouraged to imagine the impossible and to integrate metaforms into the contemporary city. Science- fiction sites, transportation paths, urban anomalies, invisible boundaries, and temporary autonomous zone are examined and developed as metaform habitats. The semester long project is divided into two parts: expressions and interventions. The first section, expressions, addresses contemporary architectural tendencies that unfold to inhabit the spaces of urban environments. The second part, interventions, activates communication strategies to connect the metaforms to actual public spaces within New York City. The class work culminates in final presentations critiqued by guest reviewers from related fields. No prerequisites or architectural experience is needed, however, previous knowledge of at least one programming language is strongly recommended (processing, max/msp/jitter, maya, flash etc.). http://www.dk22.com/metaforms       Course Syllabus
• Methods of Motion (H79.2448) - Marianne Petit, Gabe Barcia-Colombo
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  This class explores methods of storytelling through animation. We examine a range of techniques including pixillation, stop motion, collage, abstract and cartoon animation. We apply a variety of tools such as iStopMotion, After Effects, and Flash. There are five animation short animation assignments and one final project. Students are encouraged to experiment. Drawing skills are not necessary though students are required to maintain a weekly sketchbook. A basic knowledge of digital video is a plus.       Course Syllabus
• Mobile Me(dia) (H79.2690) - Shawn Van Every
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Mobile devices (phones) have become devices for both the production and consumption of rich media—augmenting their original purpose as one-to-one communication devices. In this course we will explore the technology that enables the consumption and production of media on these devices with an eye towards how that media can be used in conjunction with the devices’ original social and communicative purposes. In short, this course will examine social and participatory aspects of mobile media consumption and generation. Students will create projects that utilize the available technology to explore new forms of social media creation and consumption. In this course will cover Multimedia Messaging, the mobile web, mobile photography, mobile video, live streaming, geocoding and more. We will utilize both PHP (web side) and Java (Android or Mobile Processing, device side) for development. ICM is a prerequisite. (Programming, Video, Mobile )       Course Syllabus
• Narrative Lab (H79.2261) - Douglas Rushkoff
  Offered: Fall 2008
  This seminar and laboratory considers the impact of interactivity and technology on traditional narrative structure, and explores new methods for conveying the essential narrative elements in non-linear and interactive forms of art, entertainment, and communications. Throughout, we will be formulating approaches to traditional narrative in interactive contexts, as well as piloting new narrative constructs developed for non-linear media. Each class meeting is broken up into two parts. The first is a seminar discussion examining an aspect of traditional narrative, and the way it is threatened or rendered obsolete in an interactive context. The second takes the form of workshop exercises and short projects through which alternative narrative forms specifically suited for an interactive environment are conceived, prototyped and evaluated. Students also work on longer-term experiments in interactive narrative, developing rule sets through which emergent narratives may form. These may take forms ranging from augmented theater, interactive comics, and video games to robots, installations, software, amusement rides, or prototypes for as-yet undefined media. Readings will include Aristotle, McKee, Ibsen, Brecht, Marie Ryan, Scott Mcloud, Rushkoff, Carse, Huizinga, Burroughs, and a few current game theorists. Note: This course meets for 12 sessions beginning Monday, January 25.
• Networked Objects (H79.2253) - Thomas Igoe, Robert Faludi
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009
  This course explores the possibilities and challenges of designing alternate physical network interfaces. In physical computing, students learn how to make devices that respond to a wide range of human physical actions. This class builds on that knowledge, covering methods for making interfaces talk to each other. On the physical interface side, students will learn about a variety of network interface devices, including microcontrollers, network radios, and serial-to-Ethernet converters. On the network server side, basic server-side programming techniques in PHP will be introduced. On the desktop computer, basic network techniques in will be covered in Processing. Students should be comfortable programming in at least one language (Processing or PHP preferred), and with the basics of physical computing. Topics of discussion include: networking protocols and network topologies; network time vs. physical time; coping with network unreliability; planning a network of objects (system design); mobile objects; and wireless networks of various sorts. Students undertake a series of short production assignments and final project, and keep an online journal documenting their work and reading. We will also do some reading and discussion of contemporary work in the field.       Course Syllabus
• New Interfaces for Musical Expression (H79.2227) - Hans Steiner, Greg Shakar
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  The course focus is on the design and creation of digital musical instruments. Music in performance is the primary subject of this class. We approach questions such as "What is performance?" "What makes a musical interface intuitive and emotionally immediate?" and "How do we create meaningful correlations between performance gestures and their musical consequences?" Over the semester, we look at many examples of current work by creators of musical interfaces, and discuss a wide range of issues facing technology-enabled performance - such as novice versus virtuoso performers, discrete versus continuous data control, the importance of haptic responsiveness as well as the relationship between musical performance and visual display. Extensive readings and case studies provide background for class discussions on the theory and practice of designing gestural controllers for musical performance. Students design and prototype a musical instrument - a complete system encompassing musical controller, algorithm for mapping input to sound, and the sound output itself. A technical framework for prototyping performance controllers is made available. Students focus on musical composition and improvisation techniques as they prepare their prototypes for live performance. The class culminates in a musical performance where students (or invited musicians) will demonstrate their instruments. Prerequisites: H79.2233 (Introduction to Computational Media) and H79.2301 (Physical Computing).       Course Syllabus
• New York City: A Laboratory of Modern Life  (H79.2776 ) - Gabe Barcia-Colombo
  Offered: Summer2 2009
  It is the inherent social nature of people and of creativity that makes New York City so important to the arts. Whether it's high-brow or low-brow, high culture, or street culture, New York City remains an important international center for music, film, theater, dance and visual art. This workshop focuses on creating mixed media art inspired by and created for New York City. Over the course of the session, students study the "cultural economy" of the city, through an in depth examination of current New York based photographers, filmmakers, and installation artists. Students will then create four unique pieces of their own, inspired by these artists and energized by the social nature of the city. These pieces take the form of photography, audio art, documentary video, and site-specific public installation. Class time is devoted to lectures, guest speakers, field trips and critique. Basic video and audio editing will be covered in lab sessions. Readings include "The Warhol Economy" by Elizabeth Currid, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs, and "Take the F" by Ian Frazier.       Course Syllabus
• Pencils, Polymers, and Pixels: Working with Prototypes (H79.2764) - Michael Jefferson
  Offered: Spring 2009
  From complex systems to beautiful objects, prototypes form an evolutionary path from idea to product realization. Prototyping is both a skill and way of thinking. It allows us to take great risks at low cost, expose critical challenges and communicate complex interactions. In this course, we explore many prototyping forms, methods and techniques to better understand where, when and how prototypes can be applied to inform a design. Through a series of challenges and group exercises, students create prototypes to explore, validate and test ideas. Students should come to this class with a big idea. This is the perfect environment to take on something that has not been done, something risky or difficult to approach. As a class, we work collaboratively to identify, implement and document the process and use of prototypes to further realize the idea and design. Throughout this course, students develop a body of work in the form of sketches, models and semi-functional objects. The value comes not from the volume or quality of what you produce, but rather from what you learn and how you apply that knowledge back into the design. Documentation and presentation of process are essential. The course is conducted as a design studio with weekly discussions, presentations of work and assigned readings. A series of guest speakers from leading design firms share approaches, methods and findings from a range of recent work.       Course Syllabus
• Persuasive Technologies: Designing the Human (H79.2770) - Kati London
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Persuasive technologies range from Google's Image Labeler to the Karryfront Screamer Laptop Bag, from Clocky to Facebook's socially-reinforced news feed updates. This class critically examines the design of these technologies as they play upon specific human emotions and vulnerabilities. In the spirit of transparency and ethical investigation, we explore approaches to subverting, upending and exposing our relation to such technologies. Furthermore, we examine the power of persuasive technologies in creating opportunities for communicating non-human intentions and viewpoints. Readings range from Douglas Adams on Genuine People Personalities, to Frank Herberts "Without Me, You're Nothing," Friedrich Juenger's "The Failure of Technology", to BJ Fogg, Nass and Rives, and the work in Critical Design by Dunne and Raby, among others. Through class discussion, readings and examples we identify human emotional/social touchpoints: jealousy, seduction, fear, risk, reward, etc. Students conduct their own analyses of a manipulation technique, and of its corresponding persuasive technology application. For the second assignment students develop and present a persuasive technology concept for a non-human object or viewpoint. An example might be Play Coalition's "PlantBot," which puts plants in control of their own mobility based on their need for sunlight. For midterm, guest critics provide feedback to students' presentations of their final project concepts. Final projects can be developed in conjunction with other ITP course work, such as networked objects, social media, game design, physical computing, thesis, mobile computing; or a written research analysis.       Course Syllabus
• Programming from A to Z (H79.2536) - Daniel Shiffman, Adam Parrish
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  This course focuses on programming strategies and techniques behind procedural analysis and generation of text-based data. We'll explore topics ranging from evaluating text according to its statistical properties to the automated production of text with probabilistic methods. Using real world data sets we'll build examples of document classifiers, recommendation engines, and language generators. Examples are demonstrated using Java, Processing, and PHP with a focus on advanced data structures (linked lists, hash tables, binary trees) associated with storing and manipulating data. Prerequisite: H79.2233 Introduction to Computational Media or equivalent programming experience.       Course Syllabus
• Project Development Studio (Danny Rozin) (H79.2564) - Daniel Rozin
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  This is an environment for students to work on their existing project ideas that may fall outside the topic areas of existing classes. It is basically like an independent study with more structure and the opportunity for peer learning. This particular studio is appropriate for projects in the area of interactive art, programing and physical computing. There are required weekly meetings to share project development and obtain critique. Students must devise and then complete their own weekly assignments updating the class wiki regularly. They also must present to the class every few weeks. When topics of general interest emerge, a member of the class or the instructor takes class time to cover them in depth. The rest of the meeting time is spent in breakout sessions with students working individually or in groups of students working on related projects.
• Project Development Studio (Marina Zurkow) (H79.2742) - Marina Zurkow
  Offered: Spring 2009
  This is a workshop for students to develop an existing project idea. It is a combination of self-directed study, with the structure of a class and an opportunity for peer learning. This particular studio is appropriate for projects in the areas of installation art with a focus on the moving image, non-linear or multi-channel video and animation, and site-specific projects. Each class time is a chance to work on your project, share project development and critique. Students devise and then complete their own weekly assignments updating the class wiki regularly. They also present to the class every few weeks. Topics of shared interest are presented by a member of the class, or by the instructor. The rest of the meeting time is spent in breakout sessions with students working individually or in groups of students working on related projects.       Course Syllabus
• Recurring Concepts in Art (H79.2586) - Georgia Krantz
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  As a response to developing technologies, artists working in areas of new/digital media are continually inventing new concepts for self-expression - interactivity, the passage of time and resolution, just to name a few. Yet these concepts are new only in the sense that they are being adapted to new media. For example, the notion of interactivity, frequently observed as original and specific to the user-interaction component of computer-mediated works, was equally, if differently, specific to Gianlorenzo Bernini's 17th-century Baroque sculpture and architecture. Indeed the very concept of new media, and the concomitant implication of critically significant artistic development, applies throughout history. Oil revolutionized painting in the Renaissance, as did house-paint (on canvas) in the 1950s; in the 1910s, the found object indelibly altered definitions of art, the importance of the object being subsumed by that of the concept in the 1960s. This course examines how artists working before the boom of digital technology utilized other media, techniques and approaches to effect formal, conceptual and experiential dynamics comparable to those being investigated by new media artists today. The objective of the course is to provide students with not only knowledge of the immensely rich history of artistic creativity, but also a platform through which that knowledge might be utilized to reconsider new media strategies of artistic expression. It is the goal that through observation, discussion, reading and projects (both written and hands-on), students acquire mental tools to approach their own work with an expanded understanding of artistic possibility. Organized thematically, each class focuses on a different concept derived from the field of new media production and examined with regard to artistic precedents. The course focus primarily, though not exclusively, is on 20th/21st-century art. It is conducted as a combination lecture/discussion class. Critical theory is incorporated into the readings and discussions, but this is not strictly a theory course. The course has been conceptualized and designed to enhance understanding through a variety of means, from basic observation, to exploratory conversations, to more rigorous thinking informed by lectures, readings and focused discussions.       Course Syllabus
• Redial: Interactive Telephony (H79.2574) - Shawn Van Every
  Offered: Spring 2009
  New technologies, such as Voice over IP, and open source telephony applications, such as Asterisk, have opened the door for the development of interactive applications that use telephony for it's traditional purpose -- voice communications. This course explores the use of the telephone in interactive art, performance, social networking, and multimedia applications. Asterisk and low cost VoIP service are used to develop applications that can work over both telephone networks and the internet. Topics include: history of telephony, plain old telephone service (POTS), voice over IP (VoIP), interactive voice response systems (IVR), audio user interfaces, voice messaging systems (voicemail), text to speech and speech recognition, phreaking (telephone hacking), VoiceXML, conferencing and more. This course involves programming with PHP, Perl or Java. Some proficiency with one of those languages is required.       Course Syllabus
• Representing Earth (H79.2810) - Michael Naimark
  Offered: Fall 2009
  A remarkable convergence is enabling vast numbers of photos to be collectively “mapped” or modeled together in various ways. Small cheap digital cameras together with image processing, 3D modeling, cloud computing, and crowd-sourcing have enabled new ways to seamlessly aggregate images. The ultimate end result may be an unimaginably giant Earth model, containing as much detail as is chosen to add. The big players know it. Yahoo has Flickr (with over 2 billion images) and Flickr Maps, Microsoft has Live 3D and Photosynth, and Google has Google Earth and Streetview. Advances and new features spring up weekly, but so have critical concerns, for example, around access, control, privacy, and authenticity. The artist and activist communities know it as well and have responded in lively and provocative ways. This class attempts to make sense out of this fast-moving and uncharted domain. It is organized around six sections, two weeks each: (intro) “A Thousand Zapruders”, 1) “Billions and Billions of Photos” (the qualitative impact of colossal image libraries), 2) “Just Like Being There” (photo-realism and the psychophysics of mediated perception), 3) “Moving Through Space” (mediated navigation and how it compares to real-world navigation), 4) “Merging and Morphing” (combining images to create new viewpoints), 5) “Rich 3D Modeling” (making 3D computer models from photos), 6) “Liveness” (the role of streaming real-time images, video, and data in Earth models), and (close) “The One Earth Model”. For each section, we will examine fundamental concepts, track what’s out there, and debate concerns. Students are expected to produce a research presentation for each section, diving into specific areas of interest to them.       Course Syllabus
• Rest of You (H79.2568) - Daniel O'Sullivan
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  This class explores the possibilities of subtle interaction with computers. Conventional computer interface tends to accommodate conscious, explicit, intentional communication. Many unconscious cues and actions that are valued in ordinary human expression are ignored or filtered by computer-mediated interactions. Relinquishing a conscious gatekeeper can be associated with such uncomfortable subjects as subliminal manipulation, subconscious repression, even a loss of free will and the insanity defense! On the other hand going past conscious control can be associated with achieving virtuosity in the arts and athletics, acquiring insight into your personality, and engendering trust in conversation. In this course students build on software and hardware tool kits to create hands-on experiments tapping less conscious parts of your experience. The prototyping exercises include using cell phone as personal sensor logger and then visualizing the results; sensing autonomic nervous responses such as heart rate; and trapping and analyzing language use on your computer. Group work is encouraged. The last part of the semester we concentrate on final projects. ICM and Physical Computing are prerequisites to this course.       Course Syllabus
• Sensor Workshop (H79.2522) - Jeffrey Gray
  Offered: Spring 2008
  Creating interactive work relies on building a relationship between the object and the viewer. By gathering information in the form of input, processing that into meaningful data, and outputting that contextually, new forms of engagement and interaction with an audience can be established. In this class, students focus on the input side of physical computing by researching various sensors and sensing methods and developing example methods for their use. The class assembles a library of sensor applications for interactive applications, and applies this research to applications in other classes at ITP. The class begins with a review of the electronics of sensor systems as learned in physical computing. From there, we talk about types of sensors; sensors, time, and events; amplification and filtering of sensor signals; sensor networks; data processing, statistical methods, gesture recognition and related topics that aid in making sensor systems effective. There are a number of one-week exercises that students complete to demonstrate the techniques discussed in class. In addition, students are responsible for a major sensor research project in which they explain the operating principles of a given sensor and present a working example of the sensor in use. These research projects are presented throughout the second half of the semester, and collected as part of a growing online reference project. There is no final application project, but students are evaluated on the application of their research (or that of other students) in production projects developed for other classes. Additionally, students are evaluated by the level of thoughtfulness and detail put in to their documentation, as it is added to a growing online resource. Note: This course meets for 12 sessions beginning Monday, January 28.       Course Syllabus
• Service Design for Public Space (H79.2744) - Rachel Abrams
  Offered: Spring 2009
  If you could improve one everyday experience in New York City, what would it be, and how would you do it? In this class, we ask: What's a service and how are good ones conceived and created? What can we, as interaction designers, contribute to services for public space? What responsibilities do users as "citizens" rather than "customers" demand of designers? Drawing from my own interest in, research for, and links to, New York City agencies and service providers, we explore the kinds of relationships that services broker, and practice some key design processes and methods to understand how context of use, stakeholders, storytelling and mapping techniques shape services. In class and through assignments, we review a range of real life case studies in New York and elsewhere. The class is part seminar and part workshop. It's not a production class; instead, assignments focus on written and sketching exercises, and reading. There are opportunities to present, and, where successful, contribute your work to relevant experts/service providers. You enrich your participation in class discussion, reflect on the work of peers and of guest speakers and have a chance to rehearse your design skills. The main aim is that the materials and exercises that engage you in this class become broadly applicable to other projects (for second years, your thesis), at ITP and beyond.       Course Syllabus
• Show and Tell Studio (H79.2588) - Nancy Hechinger
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  There is no shortage of great ideas and projects at ITP. But there is often a shortage of class time to thoroughly develop the concept for a project and to communicate effectively about it in writing or orally in presentations. At some point you are going to have to pitch your projects to people outside ITP and this studio will help you gain the skills you will need. This studio is a complement to a production class -- each student brings a project from another class -- we take the time, often lacking in class, to learn how to focus an idea into a workable concept, and to practice and experiment with ways to present it. Writing is critical to thinking and design. So the writing you do helps you hone and clarify your concept and lay the basis for a smoother more effective design and development process. We work on the structure of presentations, public speaking techniques; how to write and design engaging and memorable presentations. We also work on written communication, which may include: grant writing, artist's statements and proposals.       Course Syllabus
• Site-specific: Augmentation, Affinities, and Frames (H79.2620) - Marina Zurkow
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2009
  Site suggests contexts that are spatial, temporal, narrative, and populated. Site-specific works require a frame for participants, a set of stories and a point of entry. More than art within "the framework" of an art institution, site-specific, interactive and community-based works require rigorous levels of observation, interrogation, and participation. Whether in the physical or the virtual public, frame and context are primary considerations in the work you produce. This class is part studio and part refection, using contemporary art examples and writings that engage and critique the local and the global, invert locale and involve the everyday as well as traditional urban studies of observation. The studio portion of the class will either utilize an existent space in New York, or work towards the development of proposals for a fictional grant for lower Manhattan.       Course Syllabus
• Sociable Objects Workshop  (H79.2672) - Robert Faludi
  Offered: Summer2 2009
  Sociable objects are devices that share. They can talk to each other, gain information about their context and react accordingly. Recent advances in wireless mesh networks have created the potential for a massively interconnected world of easy information sharing. Cheap communications, high reliability, unique addressing, small size, standardization, and routing features combine to enable exciting new interactions. Developers of toys, wearables, performance devices, portables, network objects and sensor arrays can take advantage of radio mesh networking to design more interesting behaviors for their projects. This course explores devices that connect with and respond to each other in a workshop format. The technical focus will be on 802.15.4/ZigBee wireless mesh networks. Interconnections with other platforms and devices will be examined as needed. Students will gain an expertise in using low-power radio networking to facilitate smart and novel object interactions. Prior experience with basic electronics and physical computing is helpful. Most labs and projects involve group work, so students should be ready to collaborate extensively as they experiment on the cutting edge of device interaction.       Course Syllabus
• Social Activism Using Mobile Technology (H79.2800) - Nathan Freitas
  Offered: Fall 2009
  We all know how mobile phones and ubiquitous computing have changed communication and networking in our personal lives, but do you understand the affect they have had on political and social justice movements around the world? More importantly, do you know how this has been done, so that you can apply these techniques when your own moment to raise your voice comes? While Obama Vice-Presidential SMS announcement was a milestone for politics in the U.S., activists and organizations around the world have been using mobile phones for years to get their message out, organize their communities, safely communicate under authoritarian eyes and save lives in times of crisis. Through studying historic, global uses of mobile technology and then teaching you how to use and apply these techniques, this course will give you the power 2B THE CHNG U WNT 2 C. The source will study and apply the use of SMS capture and broadcast systems (FrontlineSMS/RapidSMS), mobile crisis & event reporting tools (Ushahidi, VoteReport), Bluetooth broadcast systems, pirate Wifi mesh nodes, helmet-cam mobile phones and wearable UMPC/NetBook video broadcast systems. The course will also study about security and privacy of mobile phones and the possibility for open-source telephony. While the focus will be on the cutting edge, we'll also review the historic importance of police scanners, HAM radio, walkie talkie radios and other "old school" tools that have played important roles in the civil rights movement, the environmental movement and more. Actual organizations, causes and activists will be invited to speak to the class (both in-person and via Skype from around the world) to offer their stories and observations. Opportunities to work on projects with these movements will be presented to students. Some experience programming mobile devices (J2ME, iPhone, Android) will be useful, but not necessary. Experience in setting up at least one web server/application or blog system preferred. Having a cause you work or identify with or at least something you care about will be very important. Case studies to include: - The use of SMS message forwarding and multimedia attachments to share the Philippines version of the Nixon tapes. - Streaming live video from Mt. Everest and the Great Wall of China (while hiding from the police) - Secure, Anonymous, Private Mobile Phones via open-source Cryptophone software and Google Android - Reporting in Crisis: Kenya, Congo and Gaza eyewitness acount tracking via SMS and Smartphones - Election Protection: making sure your vote counts - activism for the common citizen - Crowd Control: Organizing and directing mass mobilizations through Twitter and SMS - Virtual Telephony: Asterisk, Google Voice, Skype and more, and why making phone numbers virtual and disposal matters - From Tsunami's to Twitter: did you know the first micro-blogging via SMS that mattered happened in the aftermath of the 2005 tsunami?       Course Syllabus
• Social Facts: Motivation (H79.2518) - Clay Shirky
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Social Facts centers on two questions. The first is, how do we function in groups? Group effort presents significant coordination problems, problems that have to be overcome even to do anything as simple as getting everyone in the same place at the same time. Getting a group to function as a relatively cohesive unit means getting its members to set aside enough of their autonomy, and to come to regard their membership in the group as important. The second, related question is, why do we function in groups. Group life is often unpleasant – it can be frustrating or boring in the extreme, and yet we often chose group membership over individual action when given the choice, whether on Monday morning or Friday night. What are the motivations that lead people to give up enough autonomy to participate in group action, either extrinsic (seeking fame and fortune) or intrinsic (feelings of accomplishment or appreciation of others.) Readings are drawn from classic sociological literature (Emil Durkheim, Mark Granovetter, Robert Axelrod) and from recent observations about mediated groups (danah boyd, Dan Hill, Clay Shirky); course work involves readings, class discussions, observation of existing groups, and three papers discussing the design of group interaction.       Course Syllabus
• Solar Design for Development (H79.2806) - Hans Steiner, Jacob Winiecki
  Offered: Fall 2009
  Sustainable energy solutions cannot exist in a bubble, they must be interlinked with local people, enterprise, and culture. There is a range of sustainable energy technologies that show huge promise. There are many projects, from massive to small, to bring technologies like solar to the developing world, but most fail. In order for such projects to succeed, they need to be considered in the whole context: affordability, usability, financing, local participation, long term maintenance, and even local culture. Information technology can lubricate these interactions, by easing communications, reducing transaction costs and allowing knowledge sharing. This class focuses on real world experience with solar energy, enterprise, and microfinance in East Africa and Asia. The class works with energy entrepreneurs currently providing solar products to households living on less than $3 per day. Students will learn about the basics of the technology as well as real-world problems and contexts. Groups of students will design prototype solutions. The solar enterprises critique final design projects and potentially test one or more in the field.       Course Syllabus
• Sousveillance Culture (H79.2700) - Marisa Olson
  Offered: Spring 2008
  This class will explore what Steve Mann has called "sousveillance," or the practice of watching from below (sous-) rather than above (sur-). We will explore the cultural and political implications of sousveillance, which tends to be discussed as empowering when manifest as a "taking-back" of cameras or the rising-up of "little brother," but which also unfolds in an era of increased self-surveillance, encouraged by both the government and the culture of participatory and 'transparent' media. We'll read a variety of classic texts on surveillance, panopticism, scopophilia, and vision, and combine theoretical discussion with extensive case studies of artists whose engage with surveillance--some of whom will visit our class to discuss their work. Students may complete either a research paper or sousveillance-related creative work as their final project.       Course Syllabus
• Spatial Media (H79.2756) - Jared Schiffman
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Computer screens are nothing new. But what happens to the screen when it becomes a table or a mirror or a sidewalk? How does one design for such a screen? This course explores how interactive media can be integrated into physical spaces and furniture through the creative use of projectors and embedded displays. The course also examines the multitude of questions that arise when when designing for this type of media. Emphasis is placed on the role of spatial and social context and the importance of relevant content within each of these environments. Technical topics include display integration techniques, vision-based sensing, interface programming and methods of fabrication. Students work in pairs to complete two large projects over the course of the semester. Projects are evaluated on both the quality of the design and the success of implementation. Additionally, there are weekly assignments that challenge students to consider a wide variety of spaces that are ripe for transformation through the integration of digital media. Since this class involves programming on an intermediate level, a working knowledge of Processing or C is a prerequisite.       Course Syllabus
• Story Writing Workshop (non-credit)  () - Nancy Hechinger
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Story Writing Workshop is a weekly non-credit opportunity to work on writing for students whose projects have a story at their core. The goal of the workshop is to bring writing skills up to the level of the visual presentation or the technical innovativeness. Students share their writing, get and give critical feedback. Individualized editorial guidance is also available to participants. This is not a course to help with writing for thesis or other project descriptions or documentation. Interested students should contact Nancy at nancy.hechinger@nyu.edu
• Studio (Physical Computing) (H79.2542) - Thomas Igoe
  Offered: Spring 2008
  This class an environment for students to work on their own project ideas that may fall outside the topic areas of existing classes. This particular studio is focused on projects involving extended physical interaction. Students are required to present a project description on the first day of class. They then work together with the class and the instructor to develop a production plan for their project. Weekly class meetings consist of critique and feedback sessions on individual or group projects, and breakout sessions with students working individually or in groups of people working on similar projects. When technical topics of general interest emerge, the they will be covered in class. Students are expected to show their projects multiple times during the semester, test the projects in stages, and get feedback from both class members in class and from the audience for whom their projects are intended outside of class.
• Studio (Social Software) (H79.2692) - Clay Shirky
  Offered: Spring 2008
  This class is an environment for students to work on their own project ideas that may fall outside the topic areas of existing classes. This particular studio is focused on projects involving social interactions among users. Students are expected to present a project description on the first day of class. They then work together with the class and the instructor to develop a production plan for their project. Early class meetings will include discussions of foundational texts in social software, and on the opportunities and difficulties for designing software for group use. Weekly class meetings consist of critique and feedback sessions on individual and group projects, and breakout sessions with students working individually or in groups of people working on similar projects. Students are expected to show their projects multiple times during the semester, test the projects in stages, and get feedback from both class members in class and from the audience for whom their projects are intended, outside of class.
• Sustainable Energy (H79.2466) - Jeffrey Feddersen
  Offered: Spring 2008
  This class examines technology from the perspective of energy sources and power flows. The course begins with a broad overview of the topic, a definition of terms, and an opportunity to discuss political and social ramifications. At the same time, students are introduced to a handful of technical concepts that draw on skills learned in physical computing (a prerequisite for the course) to gain a concrete understanding of energy. These skills allow the student to evaluate, monitor, harvest, and store small and/or intermittent sources of (typically electrical) energy, such as those from solar cells, turbines, and other sources. Students execute several small hands-on projects and one larger-scale project using the concepts learned in theclass.
• Systems: Hacking Everyday Objects (H79.2460) - Todd Holoubek
  Offered: Summer1 2009
  In this class students create an interactive piece by hacking into common everyday devices and machines and repurposing the components within. We learn alternative and low cost methods of developing circuit boards. In this way we explore systems by examining the components and repurposing them for a new system designed by the student. This includes using elements from existing appliances and constructing ones own homemade circuit boards. We focus on cost effective methods of construction. On a larger scale, we also look at how entire systems can be repurposed with little modification to the original system. This may include looking into the workings of common appliances. The class examines both the hardware and the software sides of recycling technology. Students also look at "throwaway culture" -- and the surrounding issues of ethics, impacts, and alternative solutions for discarded technology (currently only 2% of consumers will hold onto a particular device for 5 years or more). Students are asked, "What can we recycle from this throwaway technology and what should we do with what can't be reused?" This deconstructionist approach to physical computing includes taking an appliance apart, then creating components from the ground up as part of the new system. By by co-opting the components of other systems and combining them with our own, the students have the opportunity to explore the make up of a system, create a new one, and provide commentary about technology in today’s culture. A final project is required.       Course Syllabus
• Technology as Identity (H79.2772) - Ayah Bdeir
  Offered: Spring 2009
  This class is an experiment, part seminar part workshop, where we look at the relationship between technology and identity. We look at how the technologies we employ and consume — technologies of activism, surveillance, sexuality, and sustainability — subconsciously expose us and highlight the contrasts between cultures. Through surveys, outside lectures and projects, we question how our identity, ethnicity, and cultural footprint are reflected through our technology. We consider how emerging technologies and movements, like open source, genetics, sustainable design, hacking, and wearable computing are impacting our expressions of identity. In the second portion of the course, we focus on the intentional aspect of technology as identity. We survey the globe for noteworthy new media art pieces that deliberately express cultural identity. The course requirements include three assignments and one final project. Through humor, students use physical computing and interactive design tools to produce objects or installations that address aspect(s) of their identity(ies).       Course Syllabus
• Telepresence (H79.2696) - Daniel O'Sullivan
  Offered: Spring 2008
  This is a production that explores the possibilities of conveying a live presence across a distance. The class will begin with a sampling of tools for sending signals across a network. These tools come from areas such as physical computing, telephony, TCP/IP networking and A/V devices. Then each week a theme such as ambience, trust, community, distraction, sex, globalization, loneliness, or expedition will be presented and students will be expected to develop a small written proposal for a telepresence project. Over the course of 9 weeks each student will also be expected to learn to employ some of the tools presented to build three ideas into prototypes. Physical Computing, ICM and Comm Lab are all prerequisites. The final part of the semester will allow students to develop one of their ideas further in to a final project.       Course Syllabus
• The Anthropology of Social Software (H79.2702) - Cate Corcoran
  Offered: Spring 2008
  In this class, we will step back from creating social software and instead investigate the meaning or cultural significance of it. We will ask: What are people doing online, who is online, why are they online, and what are the social and cultural effects of many-to-many communications? We’ll use the anthropological concepts of social status, roles, groups, institutions, their relationships, cultural metaphors, and oppositional pairs to analyze various Internet phenomena – such as commenting, William Sledd, profiles, documenting one’s outfits every day, Cory Kennedy. So, for example, we might conclude that the online world initially intensifies the importance of subcultural affiliations (as people easily discover and connect with others who share their values), but ultimately weakens them as participants become exposed to many groups and value systems (kind of like moving beyond one musical genre on your iPod). Or we might observe that the rise of social software is reshaping our concept of public and private. Or we might notice that the current generation of college students is more self-aware at a younger age than their predecessors. Reading will cover key anthropological concepts (Clifford Geertz, Lakoff & Johnson) and relevant social science studies of social networks and social software (such as Stanley Milgram, Sherry Turkle, Barry Wellman, and Danah Boyd). Class assignments might include two short essays, a poll, an experiment, or an ethnography.
• The Nature of Code (H79.2480) - Daniel Shiffman
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Can we capture the unpredictable evolutionary and emergent properties of nature in software? Can understanding the mathematical principles behind our physical world world help us to create digital worlds? This class focuses on the programming strategies and techniques behind computer simulations of natural systems. We explore topics ranging from basic mathematics and physics concepts to more advanced simulations of complex systems. Subjects covered include forces, trigonometry, fractals, cellular automata, self-organization, and genetic algorithms. Examples are demonstrated using the Processing (http://www.processing.org) environment with a focus on object oriented programming. Prerequisite: H79.2233 Introduction to Computational Media or equivalent programming experience.       Course Syllabus
• The Softness of Things: Technology in Space and Form (H79.2578) - Despina Papadopoulos
  Offered: Fall 2008
  Jasper Johns once wrote in his notebook: "Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it." In this class we investigate what it means to "do things" to objects in ways that transforms them and our relationship to them. We experiment with materials and objects, stretching their limits and exploring their relationship to space and the body. These investigations are grounded in an understanding of the interactional possibilities of gestures, social and spatial dynamics, networks and open source systems while we develop a new set of artifacts and construction techniques. Softness, modularity, adaptability and re-configurability, washability, power management, connectors and ways to engage the senses (and sensors) are just some of the ideas and topics we examine through weekly assignments and social experiments.       Course Syllabus
• The World-Pixel by Pixel (H79.2273) - Daniel Rozin
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Images and visual information are perhaps the most potent tool at our disposal with which to engage viewers of our computer based creations. Computers have the ability to share our visual world by means of evaluating visual information, transforming visual content and even generating visuals from scratch. This class focuses on the art of computer graphics and image processing. We explore the concepts of pixilation, image representation and granularity and the tension between reality and image. Students are introduced to the tools and techniques of creating computer images from scratch, manipulating and processing existing images, compositing and transitioning multiple images, tracking live video and masking, compositing and manipulating live video. The class uses the C language (which is taught in class) and the various API’s required for graphics including Open Frameworks.       Course Syllabus
• Thesis (H79.2102) - Jacob Barton, Heather Greer, Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Kathleen Wilson, Marina Zurkow, Gideon D Arcangelo, Despina Papadopoulos, Sharleen Smith, Nancy Hechinger, Sergio Canetti, Dana Karwas, Greg Shakar, Rebecca Bray, Alison Cornyn, Kevin Slavin
  Offered: Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009
  This course is designed to help students define and execute their final thesis project in a setting that is both collegial and critical. It is structured as a series of critique and presentation sessions in which various aspects of individual projects are discussed: the project concept, the elaboration, the presentation, the process and time-table, the resources needed to accomplish it, and the documentation. Critique sessions are e a combination of internal sessions (i.e., the class only) and reviews by external guest critics. Students are expected to complete a fully articulated thesis project description and related documentation. Final project prototypes are displayed both on the web and in a public showcase either in May or the following semester. Note: The Monday sections (.03, .06, .08 and .09) meet for 12 sessions beginning Monday, January 25.
• Thinking Physically (H79.2754) - Kathryn Hartman
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Our bodies are ripe with the potential to express and perceive, but aspects of our physical selves are often ignored by the devices and communication systems that we use. Even as our technologies become smaller and more versatile, we find ourselves bending down towards our keyboards and screens, and much of what we communicate with our bodies gets lost in translation. In Thinking Physically, we work to open ourselves back up and embrace the rich capabilities and inherent expressiveness of the human form. Starting with the body itself, we think about how it works and take a brief look at motion studies and biomechanics. Next, we examine how we use our bodies to relate to each other, considering physical social perceptions, proxemics, and cultural contexts. We then work to become better listeners, striving to sense the subtleties of body language, gesture, and nonverbal communication. Finally, it's time to put those listening skills to work, designing interfaces that perceive the body's communicative nature and encourage people to interact in a more physical way. Thinking Physically is a hands-on workshop in which we get up and move. Students create experiments and prototypes (both conceptual and technical) in response to weekly topics and design a body-centric final project based on what they've learned. Curated uses of the body (dance, physical comedy, sports, etc.), act as inspiration, but students focus on the everyman as the target user for the projects they create. With a toolbox of sensors, wearable techniques, and rugged interfaces in hand, we capture and provoke full-bodied expression. By acknowledging and extending the body's impact, we create projects that appeal to the whole physical self.       Course Syllabus
• Toy Design Workshop (H79.2450) - Daniel Rozin
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Toys are an important element in the learning process of young children. Toys are always interactive and can easily take advantage of the tools and disciplines of thought we use at ITP. Toys make it OK to develop something just to be fun. We were all kids, so no-one knows better than us how to invent toys. This class is centered around the creation of toys for children of ages 5 - 12. Students in the class have an opportunity to research, design, prototype and test new ideas for toys using both digital and non-digital materials. Projects are developed individually and in teams. We test the designs with children and educators, and receive feedback from professionals, possibly including people from Mattel or Fisher Price.       Course Syllabus
• Understanding Networks (H79.2808) - Thomas Igoe
  Offered: Fall 2009
  Interactive technologies seldom stand alone. They exist in networks, and they facilitate networked connections between people. Designing technologies for communications requires an understanding of networks. This course is a foundation in how networks work. Through weekly readings and class discussions and a series of short hands-on projects, students gain an understanding of network topologies, how the elements of a network are connected and addressed, what protocols hold them together, and what dynamics arise in networked environments. This class is intended to supplement the many network-centric classes at ITP. It is broad survey, both of contemporary thinking about networks, and of current technologies and methods used in creating them. Prerequisites: Students should have an understanding of basic programming (Intro to Computational Media or equivalent). Familiarity with physical computing (Intro to Physical Computing or equivalent) is helpful, but not essential. Some, though not all, production work in the class requires programming and possibly physical and electronic construction. There is a significant reading component to this class as well. Possible topics include: * topologies: how to think about them (nodes and links), how few workable ones there are, and how there's no topology so stupid it isn't in use some place. * addressing and routing: what a namespace is, three ways to generate a name (nesting, serial uniqueness, random pseudo- uniqueness), the difference between smart and dumb networks, why the phone network and the internet differ even though they use the same wires * protocols: envelopes and contents, the stack and the reference lie, end-to-end principles, reliability vs. speed tradeoffs * scale: more is different, scale breaks otherwise workable systems, makes redundancy and degeneracy critical, tends to push systems * a discussion of security and its effects Possible exercises include: * Basic socket communication, both software and embedded hardware versions * Client-server programming * A group protocol/messaging exercise * An HTTP/RESTian model exercise
• Urban Computing (H79.2622) - Adam Greenfield, Kevin Slavin
  Offered: Spring 2008
  Think about cities in terms of their physical components: walls, windows, markets, streets and neighborhoods, for example. At every scale, these are transformed when the air itself carries fantasies, suggestions, directions and lies. Information and misinformation. Now the streets can summon up the world, and to a certain degree, the world can conjure the streets. This is not what urban planners were planning for. This is an experimental class, focused on the consideration of contemporary practices, theory, and student work. The goal is to find a framework for the ways that our work affects and transforms our urban experience – and vice versa – and to consider the urban architectonic as a platform for computation in itself. Ubiquitous computing, Big Games, and mobile social networking are some of the practices that fit comfortably in the room. This seminar requires weekly readings, field reports, and active participation in the class and with New York City. Four assignments are given to apply these principles, appropriate to individual interests and pursuits.
• User Experience Design: User Research for Concept Development (H79.2544) - Rebecca Trump
  Offered: Spring 2008
  Compelling experiences of products, applications, and environments are grounded in a deep understanding of user needs. They are more than just user-friendly—they solve new problems, are innovative, invite participation, tell powerful stories, and use technologies in completely new ways. People easily connect with these experiences because they make sense—physically, culturally, socially, and emotionally. In a workshop format, we explore methods for observing human behavior; analyzing and solving complex design problems; and using storytelling to communicate new user experiences to others. The overall approach to user research in this course is generative: to generate new design opportunities and inspire design creativity. Students first complete several short assignments, and then begin the main project. The main project results in design concepts represented by user scenarios and rough prototypes, and supported by a research document created throughout the semester.       Course Syllabus
• Video for New Media (H79.2256) - Gabe Barcia-Colombo
  Offered: Summer1 2009
  In 1967 the Sony Portapak became the first portable video system available to the public. Suddenly motion pictures became accessible to artists, experimenters and social activists, not simply Hollywood production companies. The introduction of the Portapak had a great influence not only on the development of ITP but also on the way we create, consume and distribute media today. How do we create video that is non-linear yet compelling, interactive yet engaging? The goal of this class is to provide an overview of both the history of video, and its relevance to present day new media. Topics covered include aesthetics and concepts, camera usage, editing, lighting, as well as an introduction to interactive video software such as Jitter and Isadora. Through a series of weekly experiments and assignments, students gain experience with video blogging, short format documentary style, post linear narrative, interactive video installations as well as theatrical video design. Previous video experience is not required and experimentation is highly encouraged! Note: This course meets for 12 sessions beginning Monday, January 25.       Course Syllabus
• Video Sculpture (H79.2722) - Gabe Barcia-Colombo
  Offered: Fall 2008, Fall 2009
  Video is the new marble. In this class we breathe new life into video as a medium for creating engaging interactive physical sculpture. Video is no longer a flat screen based medium. How do we create video sculptures that move, emote and react to our presence? The course takes video off the screen and into the world of three-dimensional space in the form of site-specific and or physical installations. Through a series of weekly experiments and assignments, students work with projection, tiny LCD screens, physical sensors and interactive software to hack video into interactive sculptures in the tradition of Nam Jun Paik, Tony Oursler and Camille Utterback. Class is divided between lectures, guest speakers and critical discussion/presentation of work. Previous knowledge of video production / editing is not required, but a mad scientist-like lust to bring video to life is highly encouraged.       Course Syllabus
• Virtual Worlds Workshop (H79.2790) - Josh Lifton
  Offered: Fall 2009
  Technology evolves in sporadic bursts, and in so doing often churns up old ideas in new guises. The term "virtual worlds" is the latest reinvention of a timeless idea - freeform social interaction in a completely virtual space, though even this generic definition is fuel for much debate. This course draws on historical and contemporary readings to critically examine virtual worlds and the issues surrounding them, from the recently popular Second Life and myriad casual social web spaces to the early pioneering work of Active Worlds and the innumerable MUDs that arose in the Internet's infancy. As a class, we try to separate the essence of virtual worlds from what is derivative, what has succeeded from what has failed, promising directions of inquiry from dead ends. The readings and accompanying discussion inform fast-paced prototyping of virtual world experiments implemented from the students' choice of tools, such as Processing, Flash, Second Life building and scripting, various cloud computing and account interface tools (e.g. Google App Engine and Facebook Connect), and new experimental tools introduced and developed over the course of the semester. There is no strict prerequisite for this course, but students should feel comfortable with programming fundamentals, or be willing to put forth the extra effort needed to learn as they go.       Course Syllabus
• Visual Communication (H79.2724) - Katherine Dillon
  Offered: Fall 2008, Summer1 2009, Fall 2009
  We see information before we read it - and often we see instead of read. Effective technologists and storytellers embrace the importance of visual design and understand the many tools available to convey and manipulate the user experience. These tools include everything from the layout and packaging of the written word to photo editing, information graphics, illustration, typography, animation, color and spatial modeling. This course provides an overview of the tools available and, through a series of practical exercises, enables students to understand the implications of their use. The goal of the course is to provide students with the practical knowledge and critical skills necessary to effectively consider visual design as an important and inevitable component of their work. The goal of the course is to provide students with the practical knowledge and critical skills necessary to effectively consider visual design as an important and inevitable component of their work. This class is especially recommended as an introductory course for people without training in the visual arts who might waive ICM or Physical Computing.       Course Syllabus
• Visual Music (H79.2760) - Zach Layton
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Op Art, Synaesthesia, Liquid Light shows, Andy Warhol's exploding plastic inevitable, the Expanded Cinema of Jordan Belson and Tony Conrad's Flicker, Xenakis and Le Corbusier's sonic architectural designs are some of the many other examples that reflect the dynamic integration of sound and image. Using Anton Webern's concept of "Klangfarbenmelodie" (Sound-Color-Melody) as a jumping off point, this course evaluates and studies the history and practice of Visual Music. Ranging from spectral music and serial composition as a foundation, this class moves into the history and practice of experimental cinema, algorithmic approaches towards visualization and digital architecture. Students are encouraged to pursue individual approaches towards sonification and visualization techniques ranging from but not exclusive to Max/MSP/Jitter, Processing, video and other analog visualization techniques. This class is a historical and critical seminar with an emphasis on production, improvisation and critical analysis, featuring several prominent guest speakers currently working in the field. Prerequisites: Some music, video production or animation background.
• Visualizing Data: Code Meets Graphic Design  (H79.2812) - Stewart Smith
  Offered: Fall 2009
  The goal of this course is to augment your introductory Processing knowledge with concepts, examples, and sample code for creating data visualizations. In addition to code the course focuses on graphic design, specifically hierarchy and typography in visualization. Here are some design questions the course considers: Who is your audience? How would a first-time user approach/understand a piece? Does your choice of typeface enhance or detract from what you're trying to communicate? Discussion ranges from writing clean source code to Sol Lewitt, Douglas Engelbart and Edward Tufte. On the technical side the course examines how to parse data from XML (including Atom and RSS feeds), CSVs, and images. We cover simple chart, graph, and connectivity examples before moving on to your own visual experimentation. By semester's end you should be able to load data, render something visually compelling, and have something interesting to say about it.       Course Syllabus
• Visualizing the Five Senses (H79.2720) - Staff
  Offered: Fall 2008
  What can we visually communicate about the data that our senses collect? In this class we look at information visualization as used in scientific representation. We create visualizations of the data that triggers our five senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste). In the process, we look at each of the canonical phases of information visualization: acquire, parse, filter, mine, represent, refine, and interact. The projects cover the range of modes of scientific visualization: photography, diagrams, illustrations, and models. By identifying the constraints of the data set and the insight to be communicated, students learn to develop the appropriate and creative methods for their visualizations. The class has bi-weekly assignments in which students use the Processing environment to present 5 data sets. Students learn to identify one question to be answered about the data and how to “sketch” using processing. One assignment is a fully developed one for a final project, incorporating scientific data. We provide data sets or tools for collecting the data as starting points for each assignment. Basic programming skills are required. During the semester, we look at and read about great moments in scientific visualization whose range includes the double helix model, bubble chambers, and the Eames’ powers of 10. Readings, films, and images hone in on representations of sense material.
• Wearables Studio (H79.2698) - Zachary Eveland, Despina Papadopoulos
  Offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2009
  Wearable technologies present unique creative opportunities; proximity to the body suggests new ways of viewing technology, and our bodies inform and affect what the technology can do. The always-on nature of a wearable device also changes our relationship to it; it becomes part of us and,having it on-hand, we're constantly finding new uses for it. On the flip side, wearable technologies present unique and interesting problems; conceptual, social, and design challenges require a critical eye and technical challenges demand a diverse combination of practical skills. Making wearable technology has traditionally been difficult, but the availability of new tools, materials, and techniques has lately made the going a little easier. Wearables Studio is an intensive project development environment for students to create satisfying, expressive, wearable technologies that work. We explore the available tools and techniques while developing an understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities afforded by wearable technologies. Students develop a wearable technology concept, then refine, construct, and test their working prototype. Though we cover some of the theoretical points of wearable technologies, the class is production-oriented; you should have one or more projects in mind, one of which you will bring to completion over the course of the semester. The class includes lectures on the theoretical and practical aspects of wearable technologies, class discussion, guest critiques, and plenty of in-class critique and feedback.       Course Syllabus
• When Strangers Meet (H79.2762) - Kio Stark
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Even the simplest exchange among strangers can contain a tangled accumulation of meanings: what transpires may have physical, emotional, social, political, technological and historical dimensions. This class takes an analytical approach to unraveling and understanding these charged moments. In the process of the studying how and why strangers interact in public, we address some of the abiding themes at ITP—urban behavior, spontaneous interaction, the pleasure of the unexpected, how technology can mediate and/or enable human experience—and we make a close and thorough examination of how they play out in this narrow slice of human experience. This approach is designed to bring students to a more concrete understanding of these larger abstract ideas. Classwork consists of readings, class discussions, field assignments (a series of assigned interactions with strangers that the students will document and discuss) and an analytical final paper. Students learn how the interactions of strangers have changed historically (and why), what the experience of interaction with strangers means to the participants, how strangers 'read' each other, how they initiate interactions, how they avoid interactions, how they trust each other and how they fool each other. Readings range from seminal works on urban sociology and public behavior (Georg Simmel, Stanley Milgram, Erving Goffman, Jane Jacobs, William H. Whyte, Elijah Anderson) to more lyrical examinations of strangers in cities (Tim Etchells, Italo Calvino, Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin, Edgar Allan Poe) to recent neuropsychiatric discoveries about trust, mimicry, and flash judgments. Because stranger interactions are at heart a means to interrupt the expected narrative of the everyday, we consider the works of artists and thinkers who show how such disruption, surprise, spontaneity, and play are fundamental to the pleasure and substance of urban life, for example: the Situationists and their descendents, Sophie Calle, Marina Abramovic, Francis Alys, Graffiti Research Lab, Robert Rauschenberg, Survival Research Labs. We also explore recent art/technology projects that specifically engage strangers, such as Familiar Strangers, the Listening Station, PostSecret, Oddible, Loca: Set to Discoverable, Following/the Man in the Crowd, Mobile Feelings, and others.       Course Syllabus

INTERNSHIP

• Internship (H79.2100) - Red Burns
  Offered: Spring 2009
  Internship can fulfill a Tier 2 (elective) requirement. An internship is done with an outside agency that provides projects that enable a student to develop and demonstrate his or her practical abilities, and which involve both new interactive/telecommunications services and their users. Internship requires a minimum of three hours per week per credit.
• Internship in Technology and Social Justice (H79.2101) - Staff
  Offered: Spring 2009
  ITP has partnered with a series of non-profit organizations focusing on technology, social justice, youth, education, and people with disabilities. Interesting internship opportunities applying physical computing, web development, game development, sustainable energy, and more are the result of these partnerships. Collaborating organizations and complete opportunity descriptions will be available on Monday November 10th. Students work on specific applications with each organization by registering for two internship credits. Enrolled students also participate in a biweekly seminar. Students are approved by the organizations they will work with through Marianne Petit. This internship program is supported by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and participating students receive a $1000 stipend. The descriptions of the available internships can be found by clicking on the syllabus link. http://itp.nyu.edu/opportunities/internships-for-social-justice/       Course Syllabus