Rules of play shape competitive games from checkers to football. But how do rules of interaction, both stated and unstated, shape everyday life? What happens when there are no established conventions and the rules are being made up as we go along? And last but not least, can we invent and facilitate new social norms through unconventional uses of technology?
In this course, we will design, code and test strategies for playful, serious, and bizarre group interactions drawing inspiration from daily life. We will interrogate both what it means to play and how individual identities and group behaviors emerge. What motivates participation? What hinders it? When does participation become oppressive? What’s the difference between self-consciousness and self-awareness? Who has power? Who doesn’t? Are leaders necessary? What’s the difference between taking turns and engaging in conversation? What happens when the slowest person sets the pace? What happens when there are no explicit rules? And how do we set the stage for breaking social conventions?
Class time will be a mix of technical material, play-testing, improvisation and movement work adapted from acting and dance training. All projects will be done in groups of 2-4.
We will work with both mobile sensors and traditional keyboard/mouse interaction with p5.js, socket.io and node.js to enable real-time interaction. Our challenge is to design technology-enabled interactions that encourage participants to be even more present in the physical world with each other.