The Body Everywhere and Here (Topics in ITP) +

Lisa M Jamhoury | Syllabus | ITPG-GT.2380 | Sat 11:40am to 6:10pm in > Sun 12:10pm to 6:10pm in Meetings:S-Special
Last updated: March 24, 2025

For an estimated 300,000 years, human experience has been rooted in the physical body. In the past two decades, we’ve evolved to engage through digital mediations—video calls, text messages, social profiles—where presence is fragmented, and embodiment is abstracted. How do we design digital experiences that acknowledge and activate the body rather than ignore it?

This weekend course explores embodied interaction in digital spaces through both theory and practice. We will examine the history and politics of motion capture, the role of presence in mediated environments, and the ways computers perceive and package the body. The course will include group discussions of influential works in the development of real-time embodied interaction, including those by Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz, Susan Kozel, Myron Krueger, and Laurie Anderson. Students will work in groups with computer vision and real-time motion data to build interactive experiences that explore digital forms and their spatial impacts.

Emphasizing accessibility and experimentation, this course will focus on using low-fidelity and inexpensive tools that are easy to get up and running with, making them ideal for rapid prototyping and creative exploration. ICM-level programming experience is required.

Immersive Music & Haptics: Creating Music for the Skin (Topics in ITP) +

Daniel Belquer | Syllabus | ITPG-GT.2380 | Sat 12:10pm to 6:25pm in 370 Jay Street Room 450> Sun 12:10pm to 6:25pm in 370 Jay Street Room 450 Meetings:S-Special
Last updated: March 24, 2025

This is a demo single day workshop to introduce you to a part of the future of music: how to create an immersive, emotional and engaging experience using the multi-awarded Music:Not Impossible haptic devices. MUSIC:NOT IMPOSSIBLE (M:NI) Music:Not Impossible started 10 years ago to create a better live music experience for the deaf and hard of hearing. We passed this threshold a while ago and we are now creating experiences worldwide for all to experience music regardless of hearing level. We have won Time’s Magazine Best Inventions of 2023, the Edison Awards two times and many other important awards and acknowledgements. We also have been praised by the likes of Pharrell Williams, Lady Gaga and Jon Batiste. THE INSTRUCTOR Daniel Belquer is a composer, inventor and intermedia artist that has been teaching and creating artworks blending music, theater and interactive technology for decades. He is one of the co-founders of Music:Not Impossible, and has been developing the project since its inception.

Textile Interfaces +

Kate Hartman | Syllabus | ITPG-GT.2030 | Sat 11:00am to 5:15pm in > Sun 11:00am to 5:15pm in Meetings:S-Special
Last updated: March 24, 2025

Want to make an interface that can be squished, stretched, stroked, or smooshed? This course will introduce the use of electronic textiles as sensors. Focus will be placed on physical interaction design – working with the affordances of these materials to create interfaces designed to invite or demand diverse types of physical interaction. This course does not require knowledge or love of sewing – a variety of construction methods will be introduced. It will rely on a physical computing approach, with Arduino being used to read sensor values. Working with a breadth of conductive and resistive materials, students will learn to design and create bespoke alternative interfaces that can live in our clothing, furniture, and built environments.

Prerequisite: Intro to Phys. Comp. (ITPG-GT 2301)