"Blockchain is the new Internet" - something bigger is going on here, than just another form of digital payment like Bitcoin. The blockchain enthusiasts promise applications from smart contracts, to autonomous organizations, to anarchistic systems of government. This course introduces fundamental concepts and functionalities of the blockchain and its applications, and offers a way to playfully explore its multiple dimensions. The goal of the course is not only to improve skills in this utopian however very real technology, but also to creatively apply it, to come up with design fiction and push the concept to the edge. Students will learn the basics of blockchain technology, cryptography, and the functions specific to the blockchain like crypto-currencies, smart contracts, and autonomous organizations. Students will create their own designs and applications (real or fictional) of blockchain, and their speculative designs what the technology might become. The course includes reading and practical work as homework and in class work.
ITPG-GT.2115.1 () | Instructor: Joerg Blumtritt | Sat 10:00am to 5:00pm / Sun 10:00am to 12:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 2-2 | Start Date
Course Description Is augmented reality technology about to enter the mainstream? AR platforms have finally become widely accessible to artists, designers, and technologists thanks to recent advances in mobile performance and a new collection of powerful computer vision techniques. As such, the medium offers rich possibilities for experimentation and a chance to rethink how we experience the intersection of the physical and digital. What will students do? In this course, students will acquire an understanding of basic concepts and techniques necessary to prototype and build simple AR experiences - with a consideration of not just visual but also aural AR. We’ll supplement practical exercises with an overview of the history of AR, and discuss the ethical, legal, and societal considerations cropping up around this topic. Our tool of choice will be Unity, but we will go over prototyping techniques outside of the platform to speed up the design process. If there is interest, we will cover how to get started building projects in openFrameworks, mobile, or web AR - and discuss why or when you might want to work within other platforms. Even though code samples will be provided, students are highly encouraged to have a basic understanding of Unity or at least have taken an introductory programming course. A working knowledge of Unity can be gained through Unity tutorials (https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials) or Lynda (https://www.nyu.edu/lynda). How will the course be structured? How Many Weeks? Half a semester course structured as a series of weekly coding and design exercises exposing students to the basics of A.R. Who will teach it? Irene Alvarado Is this for Graduate (ITP) or Undergraduate (IMA) or both? ITP How Do You Know About ITP/IMA/Tisch/NYU? Taught a 1 course class before. Your Email Address * ire.alvarado@gmail.com
ITPG-GT.2192.1 () | Instructor: Irene Alvarado | Sat 12:10pm to 3:05pm | Meeting Pattern: 3-3 | Start Date
We live among the vast and relatively unknown Kingdom of Fungi. Mycelial networks have been likened to social and communications networks. What do we have in common with mushrooms? What can we learn from them? Fungi communicate, remediate, and decompose. They are used as food, medicine, spiritual guides, and material building blocks. Some are crucial to the soil food web; others will kill you. Fungi are closer to Animalia than to Plantae, and only 5% of the Fungi have been classified. Students will explore fungi through reading, research, writing and interacting with fungi, and making one case study and one project that explores the physical and conceptual material covered in class. Readings that span the biological, theoretical, social and creative will include Paul Stamets, Dale Pendell, Anna Tsing, and Gilles Deleuze. Students are asked to utilize \"technologies\" in the creation of projects, which might include digital media, cooking, mycotecture, or working with existent fungal communities. Fr 3:20pm - 6:15pm (03/29 - 04/12)
ITPG-GT.2607.1 () | Instructor: Justin Peake | Fri 3:20pm to 6:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 3-3 | Start Date
100 Days of Making is a 2pt course that offers students the opportunity to pursue a creative passion or interest and develop or refine a skill over a 100-day period. Students choose a topic of interest and produce an expression of that topic every day for 100 days. For examples of past projects see here: https://itp.nyu.edu/classes/100days/. The course meets every other week over the course of the 14-week semester. Class time is spent discussing student progress and reflecting on students’ creative journey. Students are encouraged but not required to start their project on or near January 1. There will be a meeting for enrolled students to discuss project ideas prior to the winter break. About Christina Dacanay: www.cdacanay.com About JJ Esquizo: http://www.juanjose.xyz/ & Instagram: @juanjose_xyz
ITPG-GT.2793.1 () | Instructor: Katherine Dillon | Syllabus | Fri 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
Bluetooth is a short range (~100m) wireless technology for connecting devices. Bluetooth low energy peripherals such as lights, sensors, and wearable devices broadcast their presence and the services they provide. Applications on phones, tablets, or laptops can discover and connect to these Bluetooth devices without any configuration. The goal of this class is for you to understand Bluetooth concepts, learn to create Bluetooth peripherals, and build Bluetooth applications. The class will introduce the low energy features of Bluetooth, explain the Bluetooth attribute protocol, and teach the design of Bluetooth services. You will learn to build Bluetooth peripherals using Arduino. You’ll also use Node.js to build peripherals and applications that can run on a Raspberry Pi or laptop. You will build iOS or Android applications to connect to these peripherals, using JavaScript and Apache Cordova. The course will be a mixture of lecture and in-class collaborative coding. There will be small with weekly assignments building Bluetooth peripherals and applications. Students are encouraged to have their own hardware for the class but have the option to use devices from the equipment room. Mo 3:20-5:50pm (01/22 - 03/19)
ITPG-GT.2789.1 () | Instructor: Don Coleman | Mon 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
This hands-on collaborative workshop will explore how to make AI and other new technologies part of one’s creative process without being an expert in coding or data science. We will start by breaking down the most common myths and misconceptions about AI, followed by test-driving a new ideation process to help students create radically innovative products and customer experiences powered by AI, data and new technologies. The course will focus on the process of collaboration to build valuable, user-centered experiences that incorporate these technologies in meaningful ways. Along the way we will explore some of the emerging design principles and ethical considerations that guide the creation of AI- powered experiences. Co-taught by Marc Blanchard, Global Head of Experience Design at Havas, and Marc Maleh, Global Director of Havas Cognitive (ITP Grad from 2005). We 6:30-9:00pm (03/21 - 05/02)
ITPG-GT.2186.1 () | Instructor: Marc Maleh | Wed 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date
This two-point workshop is centered on the examination and creation of collective storytelling environments. We will examine a wide-range of storytelling spaces including participatory and user-generated environments, site-specific works, community based arts practices, and transmedia storytelling. Weekly assignments, field trips, and student presentations. Tu 9:00am - 11:30am (01/29 - 03/12)
ITPG-GT.2706.1 () | Instructor: Marianne Petit | Tues 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
Open to anyone who wants to create comics regardless of drawing experience. Drawing experience UNNECESSARY! In this course students will learn the building blocks of comics – the myriad ways to pair words and images, panels, borders and color – by doing weekly assignments, in class drawing exercises and studying specific graphic novels, comics books and digital/interactive comics. The last two weeks of class will be devoted to a specific project that can be combined with work in another class. Comics are a powerful medium to tell personal stories, narrative medicine stories, as a tool for advocacy, and for producing a riveting tale of your choosing. We will discuss how comics can be used for entertainment as well as a tool for change. Mostly we will MAKE COMICS. Please bring: A notebook of your choosing to class. A uni ball black pen, fine tip.
ITPG-GT.2925.1 () | Instructor: Tracy White | Tues 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
The World Wide Web no longer stops at the edge of your screen. When it comes to products, if it powers up, it talks to another device. This class present an overview of methods for connecting the physical world to web-based applications. We\'ll consider what the emerging interaction patterns are, if any, and we\'ll develop some of our own as needed. This class can be seen as a narrower and more interaction design-based complement to Understanding Networks. The latter class provides a broader overview of the dynamics of data networks, while this class focuses specifically on the challenges of connecting embedded devices to web-based services. Neither class is a prerequisite for the other, however. The 2-point version of this class will introduce network connection techniques for devices using microcontrollers like the MKR1000 or ESP8266 and processors running an embedded operating system like the Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone. You will have 4 assignments in this class. Weeks 4 and 5 are the same assignment, on different platforms. You’ll be assigned a platform by coin toss or volunteer in week 4, so that we have an equal number of projects on each platform. Learning Objectives: Students will gain an understanding of the basics of client-server web-based programming for devices with limited computing power. They will learn about current protocols for communication between devices and web servers, and about the rudiments of security for that communication.
ITPG-GT.2565.1 () | Instructor: Tom Igoe | Wed 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
This class will focus on how to create interfaces that get people to take the action you intended them to take and how to make that interaction a compelling experience. We will look at a wide range of examples of interaction design and explore different approaches to solving user experience problems across a number of platforms and at a wide range of scales. The class format will include lecture, student presentations, class discussion and in-class design exercises. The class will be very hands-on with assignments each week that focus on a particular aspect of user experience design including research, wire-framing, rapid prototyping, critique and user testing. Tools will include pen and paper, models and digital tools. Students will be active participants in the class and all assignments will be discussed and reviewed in class. Students should come to every class with a computer and sketchbook. Sec: 001: Th 3:20-5:50pm (01/25 - 03/08) Sec. 002: Th 6:30-9:00pm (01/25 - 03/08)
ITPG-GT.2805.1 () | Instructor: Katherine Dillon | Thur 3:20pm to 6:30pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
ITPG-GT.2805.2 () | Instructor: Su Hyun Kim | Thur 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
What do WhatsApp and Nelson Mandela have in common? How about Mr. Robot and the UN Council for Human Rights? When most people think “digital security”, they rarely think of these connections; but the connections are there. Digital security is much more than an industry buzzword— it encompasses techno-social idealism, open source development, and symbiotic coordination between sectors in tech, the humanities, and civic society. Certainly, we’re going to talk about Signal, Tor, VPNs, and OTR. But let’s dig even deeper. In this course, students will learn the principles of digital security; from end-to-end encryption, to circumvention technology, resilient communications, and beyond. Part lab exploration, part oral history, and part prototyping workshop, students will come away with the tools they need to undertake development projects with end-user security in mind; and foster an appreciation for digital security’s integral, timely, and often life-saving role in human rights struggles across the globe.
ITPG-GT.2188.1 () | Instructor: Harlo Niani Holmes | Thur 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date
Dynamic Web Development introduces the fundamentals of building "full stack" web applications. This course will focus on modern, client- and server- side web technologies and provide practical methods for approaching web development for creative and functional applications. The core technologies used in this course are HTML5, JavaScript, Node.js with the Express framework, and MongoDB database. Students will learn to design, develop, and deploy web applications and gain the necessary skills to extend and explore web development independently. Prerequisite: ICM About Ahmad Arshad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmadsarshad/
ITPG-GT.2577.1 () | Instructor: Shawn Van Every | Tues 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
ITPG-GT.2577.2 () | Instructor: Shawn Van Every | Thur 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
Have you ever noticed that your iPhones icons are shaking from fear before you decide to delete one of them? Or that you phone nods it’s head to convey that you’ve just entered the wrong password? Motion design has become an incredibly important component in user experience design. Animation often provides cues, guides the eye, and softens the hard edges of digital interactions. Animation can communicate in a nonverbal way. Motion creates emotions and personality to your interactions that your users can relate to. Using Adobe After Effects as our primary tool, each week we\'ll explore various methods for imagining and designing animated prototypes of both screen-based interactions (apps, websites & touch interfaces) and physical media (Installation,products, devices). Over the course of 7 weeks, students will design and animate a convincing motion prototype of an interactive installation. We 6:30-9:00pm (01/24 - 03/07)
ITPG-GT.2020.1 () | Instructor: Alon Chitayat | Wed 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
The garment as a reactive interface opens up new possibilities for self-expression, sensory experiences and more, thanks to emerging research and development in soft circuit technologies and its integration into textile and clothing design. This 7-week class introduces students to this realm using exercises connecting modern technology and traditional crafting. The class is for students with basic physical computing and computational media knowledge to explore the possibility of fashion, and arouse discussion about the potential to re-imagine our relationship with textiles and garment design as an interactive media. What will students do? The class will introduce the process of wearable design and prototyping. We will look at the history of textiles and fashion, and discuss how they influence technology, and vice versa. The topics we will discuss in class will include senses, expressions, communications, identities and social justice. We will explore a variety of wearables and e-textile technologies, including: conductive textile crafting, on-body sensors, actuators, modular circuitry, wireless communications, and manufacturing. Students will get hands-on experience of designing and prototyping wearable projects individually or in groups. How will the course be structured? Each class will be a hybrid of lectures, in-class discussions and hands-on workshops. For each class, the instructor will bring up different topics, share existing projects and research, or invite guest speakers from fashion technology industry, to discuss the different aspects of current fashion technology, e-textiles, and wearables field. During the workshops, students will undertake design exercises to practice user experience design methodology for wearables, and also learn different techniques of textile crafting, soft circuitry, and physical computing. Syllabus: Week 1: Introduction to course Discussion: What is wearable? Lecture: The history of fashion, textiles and technology In-class activity: Getting started with soft circuitry - Materials, connectors and modular design Assignment: DIY soft components Week 2: Senses Project show and tell Guest speaker lecture: TBD Discussion: Is technology blocking our senses or enhancing our senses? What can garments sense? In-class activity: Sensory experiment: Use sensors and outputs to replace or shift one human sense. Assignment: Creating a new sense through wearables. Week 3: Expressions and identities Project show and tell Discussion: How do garments express information, message or data? In-class activity: On-body visualizations: Experiment with different on-body visualization methods, including LEDs, reactive pigments and kinect constructions Assignment (2 weeks): Creating a garment to express a message/information/data, and wear it for one day to get feedback. W4: Networked communications Lecture: Connected fashion Discussion: IoT of wearables: security, privacy and connectivity In-class activity: Wireless communication: Wifi, bluetooth and NFC experiments Assignment (2 weeks): Creating a garment to express a message/information/data, and wear it for one day to get feedback. W5: Environment Project show and tell Guest speaker lecture: TBD Topic: sustainability in fashion Discussion: What does fashion and fashion technology bring to the environment In-class activity 1: Sense the environment: using sensors or wireless communication to sense the environment Assignment: Final project ideation W6: Society Final project proposal presentation Lecture: Manufacture of hardware and textiles, and the conjunctions Discussion: Fashion and society In-class activity: final project work session W7: Final presentation Subject Area Specialist for this class will be Jingwen Zhu jingwen-zhu.com. Th 6:30-9:00pm (03/22 - 05/03)
ITPG-GT.2189.1 () | Instructor: Jingwen Zhu | Thur 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date
Web browsers were originally used only for displaying simple HTML pages, but over the years they have become supercharged all-powerful web execution machines. In this class, we’ll explore experimental new features and HTML5 APIs that allow browsers to communicate with the OS and their environment. APIs that will be covered may include: Battery Status, Geolocation, notifications, accelerometer usage, video access, speech recognition, and text-to-speech. We\'ll cover the mechanics of bookmarklets and Chrome extensions, with a sustained multi-week focus on building extensions and exploring Chrome\'s extensions APIs. Class workshops will include projects such as building an ad blocker, programmatically replacing text and images on a website, and making sites that respond to external events. Students will give weekly in-class presentations on web capabilities, complete small weekly assignments, and present a final project. This class leans heavily on web technologies, and experience with HTML, CSS and modern JavaScript (ICM with p5.js or Commlab Web/Networked Media) is required.
ITPG-GT.2811.1 () | Instructor: Cory Forsyth | Wed 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date
Digital technologies have created new opportunities and resources for mapping, cartography, and geolocation-based visual investigation. They have also brought with them the need to consider issues concerning power, representation, and space. In this course, students will learn the practical realities of working with spatial geographies in digital and web-based contexts. Time will also be devoted to investigating the conceptual questions that inform mapping and strategies for art-based counter-mapping. The course will address questions such as: What makes a good digital or web map? What kind of data can mapping represent, and what patterns can it reveal in datasets? What do maps represent as visual information artifacts? What happens when we consider claims to space as topics for art-based investigations? Students will gain exposure to a broad range of techniques in web and digital mapping, with the goal that they eventually focus on one or two. Throughout the course, students will be challenged to make maps (or map-based creations) that function as artful objects and challenge common conventions of the capabilities of maps. The class will be taught primarily in JavaScript, with assignments making use of git and Github. Other technologies taught will include mapshaper, Leaflet.js, Mapbox, and Carto. Tu 12:10-2:40pm (03/20 - 05/01)
ITPG-GT.2801.1 () | Instructor: Mimi Onuoha | Tues 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date
Sound and music play an integral part in an interactive experience. What about the reverse: how can interaction can play a crucial role in a musical experience? Responsive, adaptive, and interactive audio have the ability to develop a mood, create a sense of space and material, cue and foreshadow events, and allow people to participate in significant ways in sound-making processes. This class will focus on the relationship between interaction and sound, creating sonically-driven experiences, interfaces and environments in which music is realized as a collaboration between the composer and listener. This class takes a broad view of music as “organized sound”. Prerequisites: willingness to listen critically, some programming experience (p5.js / js). No formal music training required. The course will be structured around one final assignment: an interactive music experience. The technical part of the course will focus on Javascript , Web Audio (an HTML5 specification for audio synthesis, processing and playback) and Tone.js. Students will be encouraged to use Javascript, but for the final, the language or platform is up to the student. The class will focus on designing sound for interaction and designing interaction for sound. Topics will include exploring the spectrum of interactive music ranging from hitting a play button to full-fledged instruments or interactive songs. We will consider relevant artistic/aesthetic questions like how much and what kind of sonic control should composers give to their players/listeners. Students will be exposed to prior-art interactives in contemporary music, game pieces, process-based music and video game music. Intermediate projects will give students a chance to learn and apply the lessons on Javascript and Tone.js. Students will then combine the musical and technical lessons into their final projects. The format of the course will balance instruction, discussion, jamming and performance. We 3:20-5:50pm (01/24 - 03/07)
ITPG-GT.2713.1 () | Instructor: Yotam Mann | Wed 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
Magic windows that allow us to peek into different realities without leaving our physical space, lenses that reveal hidden layers of objects or navigating new universes within the same room. More than ever, mobile devices are getting a human-scale understanding of space and motion allowing us to create more intimate interactions with our surrounding spaces, leveraging them as a canvas to experience other realities. We now have the potential to give life to inanimate objects, tell stories through space, customizing private views of public spaces and recognize places we’ve never been. We’ll question what it means and how can we blend reality exploring themes such as: augmented space and new paradigms in social interaction, public space and privacy; storytelling and navigating the physical space like turning pages in a book; tangible interfaces, mixed objects and animism; Magic windows, x-ray vision, time-machines and impossible universes; Far away so close: telepresence and remote collaboration. The course will survey the past, current and up and coming technologies and experiences in Mixed Reality including environmental augmented reality and interactive projection mapping, handheld devices while fostering a strong user experience perspective on the affordances and constraints of each. We’ll research and discuss the design principles and guidelines for creating mixed reality experiences focusing on the links between real and virtual objects, interaction space and asymmetries between physical and digital worlds, environmental semantics and multimodal and tangible interaction. Technologies explored will be focusing on mobile platforms (phones, tablets) including Vuforia, SLAM, image and object recognition, depth sensing, projection mapping. Unity3D will be the development platform: students must have previous working knowledge of Unity3D and feel comfortable with independently developing using this platform. A working knowledge of Unity3D may be gained by going through the Unity 5 3D Essential Training Lynda Course prior to the course (log in to Lynda for free via https://www.nyu.edu/lynda). Students will create and develop ideas through sketches and functional prototypes for each of the weekly themes (see calendar below). Students should feel free and are invited to use any other technologies they might find suitable to develop their ideas. We 6:30-9:00pm (01/24 - 03/07)
ITPG-GT.2179.1 () | Instructor: Rui Pereira | Wed 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
Computers and Networks can more directly convey our experience of being in the world than traditional media. Class discussion will center around a psychological examination of that experience. Students will work on creating media to better depict our experience and networks to communicate it. The techniques in the class include three.js for creating environments, machine learning for generating imagery, webrtc for transmitting sound and video and cloud database services for storing it. This class picks up where Introduction to Computational Media leaves off.
ITPG-GT.2865.1 () | Instructor: Dan O\'Sullivan | Thur 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date
This course will explore bridges/ links between neuroscience and art. After covering basic concepts related to structure and function of the nervous system, we will focus on how the properties of our nervous system affect art making and viewing. We will particularly focus on the vision system, memory and attention. Ideas/ concepts covered will include: 1.) basic architecture of the central nervous system and its known properties/ functions, including neuronal architecture axons/ dentrites / synapses and basic molecular concepts (what is a neurotransmitter / synaptic junction)], 2.) localization of brain functions (from focal lesions to cells and molecules to brain wide networks and back), 3.) basic structural and functional components of the sensory system with particular focus on the visual system, 4.) the relationship between sensory system and perception / approximations and predictions made by the nervous system to interpret incoming sensory stimuli (ex. blind spot filled in, etc), 5.) common abnormalities in perception (benign hallucinations/ Charles Bonnet syndrome, etc.), 6.) case studies of famous artists and writers whose work was possibly affected by neurological disorder (Kant, Van Gogh, Caspar David Friedrich, Edgar Allan Poe, Nietzche). Fr 9:00-11:55am (01/26 - 03/02)
ITPG-GT.2116.1 () | Instructor: Sonja Blum | Fri 09:00am to 11:55am | Meeting Pattern: 6-First Half | Start Date
The class will focus on the many overlooked aspects of paper and how it can be used as a three-dimensional material. We will review the disciplines of pop-ops, origami, paper craft, as well as visual design. Using these methods as a starting point, students will then build prototypes exploring new ways to tell stories, inform, interact, play with, engage, and challenge a younger audience. Most classes are hands–on; the rest are dedicated to critique (including from children), analysis, and refinement, both technical and conceptual. We will discuss how projects can be mass produced and distributed. Students will build three prototypes during the semester. From these, each student will select a favorite to fully develop as the final.
ITPG-GT.2187.1 () | Instructor: Sam Ida | Mon 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
What is the relationship between new media art and the art that preceded it? Has the revolutionary impact of digital media produced entirely independent spaces of art making and creativity? Thinking around such questions tends toward historical dialectic, or the idea that the present is always in dialogue with the past. There is a long history of ties between the making of art and technological advancement. Taking this history as its foundation, this course will explore how digital technologies have produced new arenas for artistic expression and interpretation, while focusing on how 20th-century artists working before the digital boom utilized other media, techniques and approaches to effect comparable formal, conceptual and experiential dynamics. The course has been designed to enhance perception and understanding of art through a variety of channels - from sustained, close looking to exploratory conversations to more rigorous thinking and discussions informed by readings, projects (including making projects) and written assignments.
ITPG-GT.2586.1 () | Instructor: Georgia Krantz | Mon 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
We build computers based on an illusory view of ourselves and miss out on connecting with good parts. This class looks at how we can reach the rest of you, the unconscious, the implicit, the context beyond the text. The readings and discussions in this class draw on modern research such as neuroscience, behavioral economics, social psychology, embodied cognition, and evolutionary psychology. The production assignments look for opportunities in biosensing, data analysis and experiential media to interact with a fuller spectrum of your experience. ICM and PComp are prerequisites.
ITPG-GT.2975.1 () | Instructor: Dan O\'Sullivan | Thur 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
Throughout history, as new storytelling mediums have emerged, content has adapted to fit the developing form. From oral narratives to theater, cinema, and television, storytelling will always evolve to fit the possibilities enabled by the platform. Given its interactive nature, digital storytelling is gradually adapting to the medium. So - how is non-linear video shaping the future of digital storytelling? This workshop will combine filmmaking and classic storytelling with narrative gaming structures. The class will introduce the depths of non-linear video and allow students to create their own interactive experience. The focus is on what makes a good story in an interactive narrative environment. Students will have access to the Eko platform - the industry leader in interactive video. In addition, they will be given \"backdoor\" access to further customize the software for their own projects. During the course of the semester, they will work in teams of 2-3 students to produce a short interactive video experience. Weekly lessons will mimic their project creation process - providing tools and knowledge for creative ideation, scriptwriting, film production, and product integration. Mo 6:30pm - 9:00pm (01/28 - 05/06)
ITPG-GT.2815.1 () | Instructor: Alon Benari | Mon 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
Tangible interfaces are interfaces that you touch. You control them with your hands, feet, and other body parts. Their shape, feel, and arrangement provide feedback. In this seven-week class, you\'ll build devices with tangible controls in order to better understand how we learn about and manipulate the world through our sense of touch. We\'ll discuss physical interaction concepts such as expressive interfaces and utilitarian ones, real-time control vs. delayed control, and implicit vs. explicit interactions. We\'ll discuss programming and electronic techniques to sense state change, thresholds, peaks, and other signs of user action. The primary tools will be the microcontroller and common tangible controls: pushbuttons, switches, rotary encoders, rotary and slide potentiometers, force sensors, touch sensors and others. The class will also cover on-device feedback through LEDs, speakers, and force-feedback actuators. Weekly projects will be designed (and parts specified) in pairs in in-class design sessions, and executed as homework. Projects will be mostly microcontroller-driven, and will build on the programming and sensor-interfacing skills learned in Intro to Physical Computing. Prerequisites: Intro to Physical Computing and Intro to Computational Media, or a working knowledge of microcontroller programming in Arduino; Intro to Fabrication or basic knowledge of laser cutter. We 9:00am - 11:30am (01/30 - 03/13)
ITPG-GT.2126.1 () | Instructor: Tom Igoe | Wed 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
Every year, the amount of data created in the world grows exponentially. However, for designers to build truly meaningful applications and experiences around data, it usually helps to start small and design around our own problems, interests and use cases. In short: designing around our own data. In this class, we will build our own personal datasets from the ground up: tracking and designing around a datatset of our own (or of our community\'s) that we\'d like to better understand and bring to life. Over 7 weeks, we\'ll learn how to collect our own data, store it, and make it available via RESTful APIs. We\'ll then design digital or physical interfaces to bring our data to life in a way that we find personally meaningful. Students will learn techniques on how to work with existing Web APIs, how to build their own Web APIs from the ground up (with Node.js and Mongodb), how to make their data available via RESTful APIs, and will ultimately design around the collected data via digital (web, p5, etc.) and physical (connected objects) formats. Class examples will be presented in Javascript. Javascript tutorials will be assigned as a pre-requisite for those with little to no Javascript experience. Th 6:30-9:25pm (03/22 - 04/26)
ITPG-GT.2183.1 () | Instructor: Sam Slover | Thur 6:30pm to 9:25pm | Meeting Pattern: 6-Second Half | Start Date
In NYC we take our cellphone and Wi-Fi signals for granted. It’s always on and we are always connected. This not the case for 2 billion people who lack affordable communication and 700 Million people who have no coverage at all. New technologies are democratizing communications infrastructure; Software defined radios, lowered hardware pricing and open source solutions have made it possible to install low cost infrastructure that can be controlled by communities instead of multinational corporations. In this class you learn how to create your own communications networks. We will cover the software, and hardware used today in community based cellular networks in Mexico and Nicaragua. We will also delve into the business of international development through guest speakers working in the development or telecommunications fields. We 6:30pm - 9:00pm (01/30 - 03/13)
ITPG-GT.2617.1 () | Instructor: Edwin Reed-Sanchez | Wed 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date
Today we no longer solely communicate with computers through a graphical user interface. As a consequence of the internet leaving the flat screen, alternative forms of interaction are increasingly becoming more ubiquitous. Designing for these new connected devices requires a different approach. From HAL 9000 to Amazon Alexa, this class presents an overview of methods, technologies and design challenges that are required to build Voice User Interfaces (VUI). Over the course of the semester, students will appropriate existing technologies, analyze examples of Voice Interfaces (in sci-fi, popular culture, art installations, connected devices), and develop their own custom solutions and design systems. Content expert for this area will be Pedro Galvao Cesar de Oliveira. http://www.pedro.work/ This class will introduce the development of embedded devices such as the Raspberry Pi as well as Amazon Echo and Google Home. We 6:30-9:00pm (01/24 - 03/07)
ITPG-GT.2190.1 () | Instructor: Pedro Galvao Cesar de Oliveira | Wed 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date
This course surveys assistive technologies and access for people with low vision and blindness. Historical, contemporary and forward thinking perspectives will be explored and guest lectures from leaders in the field and people with lived experience will be included. Students will learn about low-vision and blindness access and technologies across several domains (web, wayfinding, literacy, socialization, etc.) and will develop the skills to transform and advance them. In partnership with each other and community members that have experience with low-vision and blindness, students will develop their own projects in the second half of the class. We 6:30-9:20pm (01/24 - 05/02)
ITPG-GT.2173.1 () | Instructor: Claire Kearney-Volpe / Gus Chalkias | Wed 6:30pm to 9:20pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
Across New York City’s universities, the Technology, Media and Democracy program will bring together journalism, design, and technical disciplines to understand the various threats to democracy, and attempt to address these challenges using technical and computational methods and techniques. Students have the opportunity to work with peers in other programs in journalism, engineering, media studies, design & technology at Columbia, Cornell Tech, CUNY and The New School to build ideas that advance an information ecosystem that nurtures democratic societies. The free press, journalism and the media are some of the most critical elements of our democracy, but have been increasingly under attack by political and market forces, and a social media landscape that has altered the way people interact and share information. These challenges include: dwindling resources and support for deep investigative journalism; legal, technical and even physical assaults of media organizations and journalists; challenges to credibility and reliability of information; and shifting business models and economics that threaten both local and national news organizations and coverage. This course will include various elements that will help frame the problem and build/prototype solutions that address a variety of issues. https://techpolicy.press Reading List: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xoq92YRHNIVJV-74gwilZKVy-6yDTgAkfBDAll-oDO8/edit
ITPG-GT.2184.1 () | Instructor: Justin Hendrix | Fri 09:00am to 10:55am | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
This class looks at ways to compose music using algorithms. Drawing from both computer-age and pre-computer repertoire and literature on writing music procedurally, the class will look at different topics and issues in the automatic or rule-based generation of music in both pre-compositional and real-time interactive environments. Students are expected to make a series of musical studies investigating different systems covered in class, ranging from stochastic music to rule-based grammar models to data mining. No specific knowledge of music theory is required, though a basic understanding of MIDI, digital sound, and some of the tools for manipulating them are useful. A broad overview of the history and repertoire of algorithmic music is covered in weekly listening presentations. We 12:10-2:40pm (01/24 - 05/02)
ITPG-GT.2524.1 () | Instructor: Luke DuBois | Wed 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
Todays mostly digital world also requires a basic knowledge of circuits that do not require computer processing. Analog circuits are simpler, lower cost, smaller and require less power and still perform many of the functions of digital circuits. In this course students will learn about the basic principles of electricity, components such as resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, audio amplifiers, power supplies and timers and circuits that interface to digital devices. The course includes circuits design and fabrication through lectures and hands on labs. Students will also learn the operation of electronic test equipment such as the digital multimeter, oscilloscope and function generator. Mo 12:10pm - 3:05pm (09/10 - 11/26)
ITPG-GT.2728.1 () | Instructor: Eric Rosenthal | Tues 12:10pm to 3:05pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
What happens to games when they escape the boundaries of our tabletops, desktops and living rooms? From massively multiplayer online games to mobile games that turn the city into a gigantic game grid, super-sized gaming opens up new spaces in which to play and seeps into the interstices of our days. 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 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. Fr 3:20-5:50pm (01/26 - 05/04)
ITPG-GT.2454.1 () | Instructor: Gregory Trefry | Fri 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
Modern farming is built for monocultures with its large scale machines dispersing synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides and the collateral destruction of biodiversity and seasonal harvesting. How can we design systems and hardware + software that address the individual needs of diverse ecosystems? How can we combine the ancient and analog practices of using biologicals (soil microbes, fungi, bio-pesticides) with sensor, light and robotic technologies to maximize our food yields without sacrificing taste and health benefits and not destroy our planet in the process? In this class we will look at speculative and ecosystem design, biotechnologies related to agriculture, top down and bottom up design and the scalability of these systems and practices. We will also have the change to experiment with the bio-remediation of soil using a custom microbial design studio to explore bio-fabrication. Students will work on small design-build projects that incorporate elements of contemporary technologies, current science and applicable methods of observation and analysis into centuries old practices of biodiversity and permaculture. This class is part of the BioDesign Challenge. Tu 12:10pm - 2:40pm (01/29 - 05/07)
ITPG-GT.2131.1 () | Instructor: Stefani Bardin | Wed 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
This course re-conceives interactive media as a form of choreographic intervention. Instead of asking how moving bodies can control media, we will ask how interactive systems can influence movement. How do you make someone feel soft inside? How do you shake an entire room? How do you orchestrate duets between strangers? To accomplish this, the class facilitates a semester-long collaboration between ITP students and dancers from the Barnard/Columbia Dance Department. Choreographers will learn to apply computational thinking to choreography and creative coders will learn to apply choreographic thinking to computation. To whatever extent possible, we will attempt to embody code. Using computer vision and visual media, we will look at directing both how people move (quality of movement) as well as where they move (pathways and spatial relationships). We will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the various sensing technologies available to us today. How wide is the gulf between what we can see and feel (strength, hardness, contortion) and what a computer can see and interpret (locations, contours, velocity, acceleration)? Class time will be split between movement exercises, playing with examples and deconstructing code. The class will culminate in a final showing of student work. PLEASE NOTE: This class requires travel to The Movement Lab in The Milstein Center at Barnard College: 3009, Broadway, New York, NY 10027 (~1hour by subway each way). Final schedule of whether we will be meeting at Barnard every week or on alternating weeks depends on the construction schedule for the 2nd Floor Media Commons at 370 Jay. *** Please be advised that this is a 10-seat class. ***
ITPG-GT.2175.1 () | Instructor: Mimi (Yue) Yin | Mon 7:00pm to 9:55pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
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.
ITPG-GT.2176.1 () | Instructor: Mimi (Yue) Yin | Wed 12:10pm to 3:05pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
Making games for kids ain’t easy, but it sure can be rewarding. Kids can be the harshest of critics and also the most appreciative of players. Designing a game entails crafting a complex and dynamic system to produce engagement. Designing games for kids demands that you do all of that and make it look super simple. No 20 page booklets of rules. No relying on the good will of the player to hold their attention. Stir in the reality that a 4-year old is radically different from a 7-year old and you’ve got a formidable, but exciting design challenge in front of you. Designing games for kids forces you to strip your games down to their essence honing your skills as an interaction designer. This class will lay out a basic framework for game design. Then we’ll use that framework to analyze and design games for different age ranges, skill levels and attention spans. We will also look at the interplay between games and education, focusing on ways to draw out learning through scaffolding. The class will focus heavily on production and playtesting. Students will make a series of games for different age ranges. For questions about the class email Greg Trefry at gtrefry@iamtheeconomy.com. Fr 9:30-12:15pm (01/26 - 05/04)
ITPG-GT.2705.1 () | Instructor: Gregory Trefry | Fri 09:30am to 12:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
\"Detournement\" is the practice of hijacking cultural or artistic materials and reusing them to produce new works that both counter and explicate the original intent or ideology of the source material. In this class students will learn how to scrape massive quantities of material from the internet using the Python programming language, and then deploy that material to make satirical, critical and political projects. The class will cover a variety of web scraping techniques, as well as command line programs and Python tools that will allow us to automatically manipulate text, images and video, with readings pertaining to the history of artistic \"hijackings\" and satire. Mo 6:30-9:25pm (01/22 - 04/23)
ITPG-GT.2119.1 () | Instructor: Sam Lavigne | Mon 6:30pm to 9:25pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
According to anthropologists Filip de Boeck and René Devisch, divination \"constitutes a space in which cognitive structures are transformed and new relations are generated in and between the human body, the social body and the cosmos.\" In this class, students will learn the history of divination, engage in the practice of divination, and speculate on what forms divination might take in a world where the human body, the social body, and even the cosmos(!) are digitally mediated. Starting with an understanding of ritual and folk culture, we will track the history of fortune-telling from the casting of lots to computer-generated randomness to the contemporary revival of Tarot; from reading entrails to astrology to data science; from glossolalia to surrealist writing practices to the \"ghost in the machine\" of artificial intelligence. Weekly readings and assignments culminate in a final project.
ITPG-GT.2120.1 () | Instructor: Allison Parrish | Thur 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
From the most ephemeral thought to the rise and fall of civilizations, every aspect of your life, and indeed the universe, involves energy. Energy has been called the “universal currency” by prolific science author Vaclav Smil, but also “a very subtle concept… very, very difficult to get right” by Noble physicist Richard Feynman. It is precisely this combination of importance and subtlety that motivates the Energy class. Maybe you fear the existential threat of anthropogenic climate change, or maybe you just want your physical computing projects to work better. Either way, the class will help you understand energy quantitatively and intuitively, and incorporate that knowledge in your projects (and perhaps your life). How? Building on skills introduced in Creative Computing, we will generate and measure electricity in order to see and feel energy in its various forms. We will turn kinetic and solar energy into electrical energy, store that in batteries and capacitors, and use it to power projects. We will develop knowledge useful in a variety of areas, from citizen-science to art installations, and address topics such as climate change and infrastructure access through the lens of energy. Students will build a final project using skills learned in the class. Prerequisites: Creative Computing Instructor Jeffrey Feddersen Website: https://www.fddrsn.net/
ITPG-GT.2466.1 () | Instructor: Jeffrey Feddersen | Tues 09:00am to 11:55am | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
Technology shapes who we are and what we can be and do. With the accelerated pace of technological innovation it is becoming harder to keep pace with the impact technology has on our lives and the way we relate with each other - objects in the mirror are beginning to coincide with the mirror. Creating future scenarios gives us agency, makes us realize the power and responsibility we have in long-term planning, and opens up the space for a rigorous conversation on ethics, design, toolmaking, privacy, authenticity, and other issues. Good scenario planning considers not just one, but multiple, carefully researched views of the future, comparing and contrasting them to decide on a course of action. As Peter Schwartz points out in The Art of the Long View, “the point is to make strategic decisions that will be sound for all plausible futures.... The end result, [of scenario planning], is not an accurate picture of tomorrow, but better decisions about the future.” Scenario planning using a systems view changes the way we see not only the future, but how we make decisions about the present as well. In this class, students will develop skills in future scenario planning grounded in systems thinking and research about the present and the past. We will work together to determine a question that concerns us about our future five to ten years forward. From there, we will articulate factors that are relevant to the question: driving forces, current conditions and trends which can be extrapolated, and critical uncertainties. Using this research as both source material and constraint, students will split into groups to develop multiple scenarios describing the future date which the class is examining. Final projects will be a series of live group presentations of your scenario, with multimedia support as needed. By the end of the class, students will: Strengthen their ability to research technologies and their effects Become familiar with systems thinking as a tool for planning and design Gain a familiarity with with current approaches to scenario planning (e.g. Royal Dutch Shell, SRI, IFTF, etc.) Strengthen both written and in-person presentation skills Th 6:30-9:00pm (01/25 - 05/03)
ITPG-GT.2181.1 () | Instructor: Tom Igoe / Despina Papadopoulos | Thur 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
Hardware is not hard, and new tools at ITP make it easier than ever to make custom circuit boards for your projects. Students will learn how to grow from a breadboard to their own surface mount PCB, all without leaving the floor. This class is about artists and designers taking control of their hardware, and exploring the potential of embedding their projects into the world around them. Students will learn Eagle CAD, micro-milling machines, drawing schematics, electronics theory, ordering parts, surface-mount components, solder paste, stenciling, reflow, pick-and-place, and more. Two projects will be assigned. The first is a class project, where each student will make their very first surface-mount PCB. The second project is the final, and we will be spending the rest of the semester focused on iterating through prototypes and final designs. Prerequisite: Physical Computing About Andy Sigler: andysigler.com
ITPG-GT.2767.1 () | Instructor: Andy Sigler | Thur 3:20pm to 6:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
This course teaches the ins and outs of using imagery in real-time within a performance context. The class will use Max/MSP/Jitter to study various ways of manipulating visual media (video, still imagery, live camera feeds) in integration with various interactive elements (sound, physical interfaces, sensors) in order to create dynamic and replicable performance systems. We will look at ways in which images are represented by a computer in order to increase our understanding of these systems and expand our visual/digital palette. We will then apply that understanding to variety of different performance formats and contexts while discussing strategies and techniques for creating compelling performances. Students will be assigned a short solo performance based on the ideas of video collage, remix, and expanded cinema as well as a group project based on concepts of object theater & experimental animation. Students will propose and perform a longer form performance as part of a final presentation in the form of a group show that will be arranged by the instructor. In depth in class workshops centered around Max + performance practice and critique. Th 12:10pm - 2:40pm (01/31 - 05/09)
ITPG-GT.2422.1 (5624) | Instructor: Matt Romein | Mon 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
Much data and many services are now accessible through public APIs - Application Programming Interfaces - from sites such as YouTube, Google Maps, Twitter, and Spotify. But how can we access these datasets and services? How can we transfer, store, initialize, and display this data on our own pages? And how might we use the data to create unique and creative web experiences of our own? This class is about building interactive single-page web applications that leverage public data from a range of existing web services. The overall goal of the class will be for each student to have 2 functional well-designed single-page web applications by end of semester. Much of class time will be spent reviewing and writing code, mostly Javascript, for front-end (in-browser) web development. We will use a number of frameworks, including JQuery, Underscore, p5, and D3. Students should have some programming experience (ICM) as well as a basic understanding of web development (Comm Lab Web). Experience with Javascript is a plus but not necessary. Mo 3:20-6:15pm (01/22 - 04/23)
ITPG-GT.2611.1 () | Instructor: Calli Higgins | Mon 3:20pm to 6:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
One of the most transformative consumer products in history, the iPhone remains the standard bearer for great design and user experience. With the latest versions of iOS and iPhone, Apple puts depth sensing and augmented reality in our pockets. How do we take advantage of this incredible platform to produce our own compelling experiences? This course will be a hands-on workshop where we explore the world beyond generic apps and push the boundaries of what’s possible on iOS hardware. Each week, you’ll be asked to complete a programming exercise meant to foster your understanding of iOS application development. While the exercises will vary in difficulty from week to week, we will always challenge you to explore some novel aspect of experience / interaction / interface design in your solution. Students should expect to spend additional time outside of class learning Swift and other related programming concepts. Full-time access to an iOS device and a Mac laptop running the latest operating systems are required. As part of the design process, we’ll host workshops and guest critiques with designers from top studios around New York City. At the end of the class, students will have a strong basis for future mobile design and application work.
ITPG-GT.2180.1 () | Instructor: Nien Lam / Sebastian Buys | Wed 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
How do we make something from nothing, and nothing from something? The idea of nothing, and optical illusions have been linked since the western discovery of zero lead to the beginning of linear perspective. In this course we will explore an array of optical illusions, ranging from traditional approaches to new technologies. Structured as primarily a studio course, we will work directly with Pepper\'s Ghost, disappearing acts, making solid objects appear transparent, invisibility, false sense of depth, and approaches to designing negative space. Assignments will include: • Readings and blog post responses. • Creating small-scale illusions with and without the aid of new technologies • Exercises in camera analysis and projection mapping • Calibrating camera values with projector values • Making user interactions invisible, and then transmittable • A Midterm: Creating a small scale prototype with controlled interactions • A Final: Designing a full scale prototype accounting for user interactions
ITPG-GT.2839.1 () | Instructor: Andrew Lazarow | Tues 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
Exhibition design is the art of marrying experience and information. The best does so seamlessly; the very best surprise and delight you along the way. In this class, you will explore the craft of interactive exhibition design through practice. Working in small groups, you will select an NYU researcher whose work is of interest to you and create an interactive experience that presents this research to a broader, public audience. In the process, you will learn to interrogate content and form, audience and environment, medium and message to create a meaningful and playful exhibit experience.
ITPG-GT.2974.1 () | Instructor: Brett Peterson | Mon 6:30pm to 9:25pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
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, physical computing and digital fabrication. There are required weekly meetings to share project development and exchange 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.
ITPG-GT.2564.1 () | Instructor: Daniel Rozin | Wed 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
There are more “free” applications and services than ever before that help us to quantify and track what we do, when, how, and with whom. The quantified self holds the promise of improving our lives, but there is an ambivalence to how these technologies are affecting our lives. This course will examine, question, and critique the perspectives of personal data and “the quantified self” from multiple perspectives. We will explore these perspectives by working with the tools and methodologies for collecting personal data and generate visuals and other tangible output from these data. We will introduce students to guest speakers, review and critique readings, projects, and software around the quantified self, and experiment through lab-based exercises that encourage a fluency with digital and analog visualization and data tracking tools. In this 12 week course, students will explore the topic of “the quantified self”. Together we will learn how to create narratives from our own personal data by collecting, retrieving, and analyzing patterns in our data, sketching and designing visualizations (e.g. charts, maps, etc), and developing programmatic methods to generate output from these data. Mo 6:30pm - 9:25pm (01/28 - 04/29)
ITPG-GT.2185.1 () | Instructor: Aurelia Moser / Joey Lee | Mon 6:30pm to 9:25pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
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 language and computer-generated text. Among the topics we'll discuss are: the history and aesthetics of computer-generated writing in literature and the arts; computational linguistics; ethics and authorship in the context of computer-mediated language; poetic structure and sound symbolism; performance and publishing. Programming topics covered include: data structures (lists, sets, dictionaries); strategies for making code reusable (functions and modules); natural language processing; grammar-based text generation; predictive models of text (Markov chains and neural networks); and working with structured data and text corpora. Weekly programming exercises and readings culminate in a final project. Prerequisites: Introduction to Computational Media or equivalent programming experience. Prerequisite: ICM
ITPG-GT.2778.1 () | Instructor: Allison Parrish | Fri 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
Emergent technologies increasingly leverage the advantage of soft and flexible materials. Integrated soft systems, particularly soft actuators, apply to health and assistive tech, human-object integration, space and deep sea exploration, and more. This course covers concepts from soft innovation history, current state-of-the-art, sister disciplines of bio-inspired and hybrid (soft/hard) robotics paired with hands-on fabrication techniques (silicone casting in 3D printed molds, heat-sealed films, flexing Students start with a short exploration of historical context and current state-of-the art to prevent reinvention of the wheel. Additional domains will be introduced by pairing of high-level concepts to grow-on combined with achievable hands-on fabrication and evaluation techniques: Cable controlled force/Flex and bend cabled structures Pneumatics and inflatables/heat-sealed flat patterned prototypes Embodied complexity/silicone casting in 3D printed molds, Hybrid robotics/Mini Tensegrity structures, Materials suitability/Swatching and collaborative or destructive testing. Final projects can be a soft/flexible/hybrid design concept presented with context, materials swatches with justifications for choices, and physical or modeled proof-of-concept. Mo 12:10-2:40pm (01/22 - 05/07)
ITPG-GT.2125.1 () | Instructor: Kari Love | Mon 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
Subtractive fabrication is a common manufacturing process that produces durable and functional objects. This class will cover multiple techniques on machining and milling raw material into custom parts. We will focus on both traditional and digital fabrication tools: lathe, CNC router, 4 axis mill, etc. We will cover CAD, CAM, and machine setups as well as research affordable desktop milling solutions for personal shops. The class will be hands on and fabrication heavy, paying close attention to precision, accuracy, and craftsmanship. There will be weekly fabrication exercises, a midterm, and a final project. It’s mill-er time.
ITPG-GT.2719.1 () | Instructor: Ben Light | Thur 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
For better or worse humanity is heading down the virtual rabbit hole. We’re trading an increasingly hostile natural environment for a socially networked and commercially driven artificial one. Whether it's the bedrooms of YouTube streaming stars, the augmented Pokestops of Pokemon Go, the breakout rooms of a Zoom meeting, or even the "airspace" of Airbnb; we are witnessing a dramatic transformation of what occupying space means. The socially distanced measures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have only accelerated this societal embrace of the virtual. So where are these dramatic spatial paradigm shifts occurring? Who owns and occupies these spaces? Who are the architects and what historical and ethical foundations are they working from? What world do they want to build for humanity and where does the creative individual fit into it? Will it be a walled garden, a role-playing adventure or a tool for creating more worlds? The course will ask students to embrace the role of virtual architect, not in the traditional brick-and-mortar sense of constructing shelter, but in terms of the engagement with the raw concept of space. However this virtual space must be considered and evaluated as a “site,” that is activated and occupied by real people and all the limitations of physical space that they bring with them from the real world. This is the foundation of synthetic architecture; simulated space met with biological perception. This conceptual architecture is free from the confines of physics but host to a whole new set of questions: How do we embrace the human factors of a dimensionless environment? How do we make or encourage meaningful interactions within the limits of current technology? New models of interaction must inform and shape the architecture of virtual space - what does that look like? How can architecture and aesthetics inform the creation of virtual environments and immersive narratives? How do we acutely consider the psychological and social impacts of the worlds we design and what is the metaphorical ground plane to make sense of this virtual world, unbound by physics? About Jonathan Turner: http://www.jonathanwilliamturner.com/about/
ITPG-GT.2177.1 () | Instructor: Jonathan Turner | Wed 3:20pm to 6:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
This class is for artists and creative technologists who want to teach. A good teacher is also a great student themselves. They transform their curiosity into knowledge and share their learning process with others. One can learn to become a better teacher by staying fearless about ‘not knowing’ something, embracing radically open ideas and connecting various expertise and knowledge. Teaching can be a form of artistic and creative practice in collaboration with a diverse community. Teachers can invent new forms of learning spaces, new kinds of collaboration and new sense of community. In this class, students will learn about applying creative processes to teaching. Students will read about the history of artists in and out of academic institutions, Black Mountain College as well as more recent experiments. Students are expected to engage in a critical discussion about the topic. Week 1: Learning Week 2: Curriculum Week 3: Syllabus Week 4: Pedagogy Week 5: Inclusive Learning Week 6: Unlearning Week 7: Platforms Week 8: Museum as a school Week 9: Community as a school Week 10: Final project pitch Week 11: Final presentation #1 Week 12: Final presentation #2 Full semester course based on a class offered in Spring 2017 https://github.com/tchoi8/teachingasart Mo 3:20-6:15pm (01/22 - 04/23)
ITPG-GT.2141.1 () | Instructor: Taeyoon Choi | Mon 3:20pm to 6:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
Can we capture the unpredictable evolutionary and emergent properties of nature in software? Can understanding the mathematical principles behind our physical 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 physics simulation, trigonometry, self-organization, genetic algorithms, and neural networks. Examples are demonstrated in JavaScript using p5.js. https://natureofcode.com/
ITPG-GT.2480.1 () | Instructor: Daniel Shiffman | Tues 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
\"Memories are motionless, and the more securely they are fixed in space, the sounder they are.\" (Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space). This course is about exploring the unique affordances of virtual space in order to create VR experiences that transcend the (still awkward) headset. In class we will: Read and discuss relevant interdisciplinary writings from architecture, philosophy, neuroscience, art history, and poetry; Have in-class demos for core concepts of Unity3d for VR; Group critique of each other\'s work; Analyze the successes and failures of available VR apps; Have visits from guest VR creators. Students will walk away with: An introduction to 3d concepts and Unity for VR (for multiple headsets) A deep dive into what makes a meaningful VR experience A light introduction to other methods of developing Virtual Reality experiences (360 video, Oculus Medium, AFrame) Command of current practices in VR design Several weekly explorations (both low-tech and virtual) A final interactive Virtual Reality project (which can be executed in Unity or on another platform) Th 3:20pm - 6:15pm (01/31 - 04/25)
ITPG-GT.2166.1 () | Instructor: Sarah Rothberg | Thur 6:30pm to 9:25pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date
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 dynamic and interactive computer images from scratch, manipulating and processing existing images and videos, compositing and transitioning multiple images, tracking and masking live video, compositing and manipulating live video as well as manipulating depth information from Kinect. The class uses Processing.
ITPG-GT.2273.1 () | Instructor: Daniel Rozin | Thur 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
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.
ITPG-GT.2102.1 () | Instructor: Stefani Bardin | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
ITPG-GT.2102.2 () | Instructor: Nancy Hechinger | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
ITPG-GT.2102.3 () | Instructor: Gabe Barcia-Colombo | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
ITPG-GT.2102.4 () | Instructor: Adaora Udoji | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
ITPG-GT.2102.5 () | Instructor: Kathleen Wilson | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
ITPG-GT.2102.6 () | Instructor: Kat Sullivan | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
With the release of consumer head mounted displays the current wave of virtual reality is in full swing. It seems that everyone is making software and hardware for VR or is in the distribution game. One issue still remains and could be the biggest challenge for virtual reality to be embraced by the masses - there isn’t that much good content yet. Worlds on a Wire will explore the history, current status, and future of head mounted displays for use in virtual, augmented, and mixed reality and teach the necessary tools for creating meaningful experiences and narratives that transcend the hardware and the hype. Students will work to produce a head mounted display experience using the Unreal Engine with strong physical computing and fabrication components. Course Prerequisites: Introductory level coding skills and familiarity with 3D computer graphics workflow. Previous experience using 3D content creation tools and game engines is a plus. We 12:10-2:40pm (01/24 - 05/02)
ITPG-GT.2138.1 () | Instructor: Todd Bryant | Wed 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date
In this class we will be creating robots that travel along the XYZ axes. Our bots will draw, paint, push, and plant. You will gain an understanding of both the best practices of design and the anatomy of gantry machines by assembling and working with existing CNC kits. We will exploit robust off-the-shelf solutions for the X and Y, and reinvent the Z. There will be a heavy focus on concept, mechatronics, and fabrication. We 12:10-2:40pm (01/24 - 05/02)
ITPG-GT.2129.1 () | Instructor: Ben Light | Wed 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date