Course Descriptions

Tier I

Tier II

Intro to Design for Diversity [1 unit(s) - ]

Are you energized by the possibility of creating equitable products, services and content? Are you interested in being a more intentional designer? Are you committed to racial equity? As designers, you are trained to solve problems, but the pull of quickly doing/solving/redesigning can actually cause more harm. There are countless examples of racially biased practices that have resulted in biased algorithms in tech, so how might we interrogate existing design practices while revisioning what’s possible around technology and what equitable tech could look like? In this multimedia and interactive Intro to Design for Diversity (D4D), students will be provided with critical thinking skills to begin to explore the complexities of designing for equity. This foundational course will support you in reframing how you are approaching these complex equity dilemmas by examining “who we are” as designers, interrogating root causes of inequity and shifting how we are relating to – and centering – the communities most impacted by structural racism. Through a combo of lectures, storytelling, exercises, group work, case studies and weekly assignments, you’ll engage with tools and practices to interrogate your thinking and design practices and processes at the personal, team, institutional and systemic levels, and explore possibilities to design for equity using key relational and strategic tools from our equity framework, D4D.

Motion Design for User Feedback [1 unit(s) - ]

Microinteractions are everywhere, you interact with them on a regular basis. Animated emojis, heart buttons that burst with love when you tap them or password fields that shake when you type in the wrong password - these are the tiny animations that produce delightful moments while providing users with valuable feedback. They can intuitively guide your users without having to explicitly write a set of descriptive rules. They are the soul and character of your interface, and if crafted well they can turn every interaction to a joyful moment while improving the user experience. Using Adobe After Effects and Lottie as our primary tool, we’ll learn how to design, animate and export playful SVG animations as interactive components. We’ll examine the basic principles of UI motion, cover how to create loopable animated states with fluid transitions between them.

100 Days of Making [2 unit(s) - ]

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 | Wed 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-All Semester | Start Date

All Maps Lie [2 unit(s) - ]

All Maps Lie: Introduction to Critical Mapping and Open Source Geospatial Web Analysis and Visualization is an introduction to critical perspectives in cartography and geospatial information systems and web technologies. This course will introduce students to the foundations of geographic data analysis and visualization, grounding practical studio based exercises and projects with critical readings and theory. Students taking this course will gain an appreciation for geographic thinking, learn to ask geographic questions, and apply basic methodologies to “make sense” of geographic data. The course will be conducted with open source geographic information systems and web technologies. Students are not expected to enter the class with knowledge of these tools, but will be expected to learn and apply them through studio exercises and project briefings.

Auto Fictions [2 unit(s) - ]

Auto Fictions is a studio class focusing on the creation of immersive, multi-path and interactive experiences based on personal narrative. Documentary art has included the art of installation for decades, but new technologies have given artists affordable tools that allow them to rapidly prototype and then refine immersive media experiences. Auto Fictions is an interdepartmental course that may include students from Film, ITP and Theater disciplines. Students will create production teams. Each team will make a project and each student will help the other create their work through intensive collaboration. The intention here is to practice collaboration across disciplines, methods, values, and artistic cultures to create a work of immersive fiction based on materials gathered from the past, captured or created in the present and/or imagined for the future. We will look at several possible approaches to the creation of immersive media works. Including multiplexing software programs. Students with the requisite knowledge in these tools or gaming engines with similar capabilities may use them for the creation of their works. But it is not required. There may be an opportunity for building intuitive interactivity into some of the experiences. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic we will be exploring how to adapt our working methods and our work itself to these conditions as they develop. The goal of the course will be to physically realize the works but to do that we will go through a detailed comprehensive design, planning and budgeting process so that if conditions permit all aspects of the work will be fully created or planned and ready to build. If conditions permit, we will meet one day at the beginning of the semester to install and introduce the platform, create teams, and review the assignment. Otherwise we will meet online and begin work there. Students will be provided with access to online tutorials for relevant software and systems.

Big LEDs [2 unit(s) - ]

Light Emitting Diodes or LEDs are used creatively all around us. They have the ability to emit light at different colors and intensities instantly and from very tiny points. How can we make creative visual works out of these amazing devices? What construction methods can we use to make those works reliable? Big LEDs will cover the process of designing large LED systems. We will cover LED array hardware and how to map pixels from computer generated media onto them. We will go through every major part of the hardware - different styles of LED arrays, drivers and gateways, cables, data protocols, and how to safely power all of them. We will learn to use the pixel mapping softwares Enttec ELM and Madmapper. We will also cover the paperwork needed to furnish a professional LED installation, including drafting riser diagrams, plan, section, and elevation views, creating a bill of materials, and writing instructions for users and installers. This year\'s final project will be a site-specific LED sculpture installed in a public space at 375 Jay St. The installations will be able to display student chosen media that can be viewed for one minute. Students will work either in groups or alone and can choose from one of four installation options to present on: - A prepared square section of 2.0mm pitch LED video tiles (approx 256px x 256px, 2’-6” x 2’-6”) - A prepared low-resolution sculpture with diffused linear elements (approx 500px, 2’-6” x 5’-0” overall) - A student conceptualized LED video tile project - A student conceptualized low-resolution project Because of this year\'s pandemic, unprecedented changes have come to the professional world of LED installations. As a result, we will be using remote tools such as networked-based cameras, remote desktop applications, and virtual private network connections to watch and operate the final projects. We will spend class time setting these tools up together. The two prepared options for the final project will be installed and maintained by the instructor.

ITPG-GT.2481.1 () | Instructor: Aaron Parsekian | Tues 6:30pm to 9:25pm | Meeting Pattern: 6-First Half | Start Date

BioDesigning the Future of Food [2 unit(s) - ]

We’ve been tinkering with the living systems that generate our foodstuffs for millennia. But climate change is radically and rapidly shifting these food landscapes, and the impacts include the extinction of many of the foods we love: chocolate, wine, beer, coffee and more importantly starvation for those in the world who are already food insecure. In this class, we’ll explore biotechnologies and bioengineering along with microbes and mushrooms to design and create pathways for the restoration of some of the damage we’ve wrought on our food system. We’ll also use art and design and systems thinking to build speculative and actionable projects that will focus not just on the future of food but the future of our planet and all of its inhabitants. This class is part of the Biodesign Challenge.

ITPG-GT.2131.1 () | Instructor: Stefani Bardin | Tues 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date

Comics [2 unit(s) - ]

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 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date

Critical Communications [2 unit(s) - ]

The ways in which we communicate has changed radically in the last 100 years. As the communication systems we use have increased in complexity, so has the effort it takes to understand how they work. Most of us use protocols like LTE, HTTP, TCP/IP, and BLE every day. We take them for granted, almost like we do the laws of nature. But there are more than the laws of physics, more than techniques of engineering, embedded in the design and implementation of our protocols of communication. To understand their role in our lives, we need to look into the societal and economic contexts in which they came to be. In this class, we will examine communication protocols using Raspberry Pi’s, Arduinos, Software Defined Radios, and other connected devices. We will look closer at organizations like iSOC, ICANN and IEEE to better understand how protocol designs are implemented and standardized. Through readings, research and hands-on work we will build an understanding of how these protocols work, how their designs incorporate the physical, technical, cultural, corporate and political assumptions of the actors behind them. In the first half of the class readings and assignments will help familiarize students with some of the different protocols we rely on every day. In the second half, students will work in groups to investigate a communications protocol and consider its impact from a technical, societal and environmental perspective. Final projects will communicate their findings in whatever form students deem appropriate - explanatory blog posts, physical or digital installations, or even videos and podcasts.

ITPG-GT.2056.1 () | Instructor: Surya Mattu | Mon 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date

Designing Meaningful Interactions [2 unit(s) - ]

This class will focus on the skills and frameworks for putting the user at the center of the design process and ensuring the products and experiences we create meet user needs and expectations. The course will cover the full design process including strategies for conducting design research, methods for creating journey and experience maps, wire-framing, ideating, prototyping and user testing. Students will be active participants in the class and should come to every class with a computer and sketchbook. The class format will include lecture, in-class design exercises and a final design project.

ITPG-GT.2805.1 () | Instructor: Su Hyun Kim | Wed 3:20pm to 6:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 6-Second Half | Start Date

ITPG-GT.2805.2 () | Instructor: Katherine Dillon | Wed 3:20pm to 6:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 6-First Half | Start Date

Device to Database [2 unit(s) - ]

How do you process data from connected devices? This class examines how to build systems to collect, process, store, and visualize data from connected devices. The class will review and discuss real world Internet of Things (IoT) systems using case studies and actual projects. We will build systems using Arduino hardware and open source software. We will discuss how IoT systems are built on commercial cloud infrastructure. Students will learn about IoT devices and the data pipelines for processing data. They will build an Arduino based device to send and receive data over WiFi using standard protocols like MQTT. Students will write code to move data from MQTT into a database. Students will learn how to query the database and present data as tabular data and graphs. To gain an understanding of an entire IoT system from device to application, we will start at a high level and then drill into each of the pieces -- we will: - Discuss sensor hardware and wireless options (WiFi, Cellular, LoRaWAN, LTE-M, etc) for moving data to the server - Discuss transport options MQTT, CoAP, AMQP, HTTPS, etc. - Examine SQL, NoSQL, and Time Series Databases - Look at tools and techniques for querying and visualizing data. - Collect and store sensor data using Amazon Web Services (AWS) Prerequisite: - Introduction to Physical Computing - Introduction to Computational Media (suggested) The class will be a mix of lecture, discussion, and building IoT systems. Real world examples and case studies will be used to demonstrate how IoT can be built.

ITPG-GT.2473.1 () | Instructor: Don Coleman | Thur 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date

Digital Security and Human Rights [2 unit(s) - ]

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 | Mon 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date

Dynamic Web Development [2 unit(s) - ]

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: Joey Lee | Mon 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date

ITPG-GT.2577.2 () | Instructor: Cassie Tarakajian | Mon 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date

Escape Room [2 unit(s) - ]

Over 7 weeks students in this course will explore different game mechanics, puzzle mechanics, group dynamics, and narrative structures and work in groups to design and build a room sized escape game. We will explore how to design immersive and participatory experiences through play and problem solving. Students will construct weekly puzzles and narratives and in the final week build and operate an “escape room” experience. Prerequisites: Physical Computing and ICM. Comfort with fabrication strongly encouraged.

ITPG-GT.2491.2 () | Instructor: David Rios | Tues 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date

Exploring Concepts From Soft Robotics [2 unit(s) - ]

Because the full potential of the emerging field of soft systems is unrealized, there are countless opportunities for curious innovators to discover or develop novel soft systems. Soft robotic skills and techniques also open up a world of possibilities for large scale or surprising artwork. This course teaches hands-on fabrication techniques for constructing simple pneumatic actuators from cast silicone and heat-sealed mylar, and challenges participants to design and build their own. Lectures and discussion center on concepts from soft innovation history, the current state-of-the-art, and sister disciplines of bio-inspired and hybrid (soft/hard) robotics. Consideration of both brand new soft materials, from a class visit to Material ConneXion library, and everyday overlooked soft mechanisms, found in average retail stores, will require participants to look at softness through a new lens. Final projects will be the development of an original soft/flexible/hybrid research or artistic concept presented with context, material swatches with justifications for choices, and physical or modeled proof-of-concept. About Kari Love: http://www.karimakes.com

ITPG-GT.2125.1 () | Instructor: Kari Love | Mon 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-All Semester | Start Date

Frontiers of Neural Arts [2 unit(s) - ]

This course is a survey of some of the more exploratory new directions AI is heading towards in the coming years and the creative applications these new developments may enable. More specifically, the class will explore the following three subtopics: 1) Realistic language models: Turing-test passing text generators like GPT-3 are writing whole paragraphs with human-level coherence. We will explore techniques for generating creative fiction and chatbots using both APIs and our own home-brewed NLP models. 2) Generative music: Since WaveNet in 2016, generative models of audio have gradually evolved to capture music and natural sound. How and for whom will top-10 hits in the future be made, and how will they be listened to? We will speculate about such questions and experiment with speech and audio synthesizers and new kinds of digital musical instruments. 3) Decentralized AI: What happens when we can do machine learning at scale without putting all the data in one computer? This seemingly trivial difference opens up all kinds of new possibilities, including AI co-ops and autonomous artificial artists. Each subtopic is accompanied by practical resources to use or implement these techniques for yourself, as well as an overview of the available and relevant tools associated with it, and will finish with a short project to apply them to a topic you\'re interested in.

ITPG-GT.2497.1 () | Instructor: Gene Kogan | Mon 3:20pm to 6:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 6-Second Half | Start Date

Hacking the Browser [2 unit(s) - ]

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 | Tues 6:30pm to 9:25pm | Meeting Pattern: 6-First Half | Start Date

Introduction to Synthetic Media [2 unit(s) - ]

Generative machine learning models open new possibilities for creating images, videos, and text. This class explores the idea of how artists, designers and creators can use machine learning in their own design process. The goal of this class is to learn and understand some common machine learning techniques and use them to generate creative outputs. Students will learn to use pre-trained models, and train their own models in the cloud using Runway. For each week, we will discuss the history, theory, datasets, application of the machine learning models, and build experiments based on the model. In addition to Runway, we will be using JavaScript libraries like the p5.js, ml5.js, and TensorFlow.js, and software like Photoshop, Unity and Figma. Students are expected to have taken ICM (Introduction to Computational Media), or have equivalent programming experience with Python or JavaScript. A list of ML models we will be covering includes: Image generation, Style Transfer, Fast-style-transfer, Semantic Image Segmentation/Synthesis, Deeplab, Image-to-Image Translation, pix2pix, pix2pixHD, Text Generation and LSTM.

Machine Learning for Physical Computing [2 unit(s) - ]

With Machine Learning models are getting smaller, and microcontrollers are getting more computing power, Machine Learning is moving towards edge devices. This class explores the idea of how machine learning algorithms can be used on microcontrollers along with sensor data to build Physical Computing projects. In this class, we will learn about TensorFlow Lite, a library that allows you to run machine learning algorithms on microcontrollers. We will talk about common machine learning algorithms and techniques and apply them to build hands-on interactive projects that enrich our daily lives. Students will learn to use pre-trained models, and re-train the models with sensor data. We are going to talk about Image Classification, Transfer Learning, Gesture and Speech Detection. For each topic, we will first discuss its history, theory, datasets, and applications, and then build simple experiments based on the topic. Prospective students are expected to have taken Introduction to Physical Computing and Introduction to Computational Media course, or have equivalent programming experience with Arduino and JavaScript.

Magic Windows and Mixed-Up Realities [2 unit(s) - ]

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).

Mind Media [2 unit(s) - ]

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 | Wed 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-Second Half | Start Date

Pro Capture [2 unit(s) - ]

This advanced experiential production course will introduce students to the latest techniques in 360 video recording and manual stitching, camera-paired Depthkit Cinema volumetric capture, DSLR photogrammetry/retopology, and a quick look at emerging virtual production systems using Blackmagic cameras in Unreal. Alongside an intense technical focus, the course will also deconstruct other experiential works that utilize similar experimental production designs to introduce the expectations demanded by professional productions. The course ultimately hopes to show viable paths for students to engage with immersive media capture pipelines, at an expert level, with an expanded sense of possibility and inspiration.

Product Design: Designing for People [2 unit(s) - ]

In this course, students will learn the process of developing products that address user needs. Students will go through the process of identifying a user need, developing a product prototype, evaluating the product with the target user, and outlining the next development steps. Topics will include such elements as need finding, archetype development, user journey maps, ideation, prototyping, user evaluation and validation.

ITPG-GT.2479.1 () | Instructor: Inna Lobel | Thur 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 6-First Half | Start Date

Recurring Concepts in Art [2 unit(s) - ]

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 | Fri 09:00am to 11:55am | Meeting Pattern: 6-First Half | Start Date

Resist! Intro to Technology + Political Activism [A Product Design Perspective] [2 unit(s) - ]

This class will apply a product and service design lens to the rapidly evolving role of technology in politics, government services, and human rights, with a dual focus on the use of technology to advance the public good, and the threats that technology can pose to various aspects of civil society. On the one hand, there has been an explosion of technology tools that aim to promote healthy and peaceful democracies, provide more efficient government services, and promote human rights. This course will survey those efforts and the product design methodologies that guide them. On the other hand, 2018 has been a reckoning year for technology all over the world. The post-mortem of the 2016 US Presidential election shined a light on technology’s role in a promulgating a deeply polarized electorate, enabling election-meddling from foreign actors, and profiligating fake news, while also raising deep concerns about data privacy and security for everyday citizens. Meanwhile, new technologies like AI and Blockchain are poised to have deeply transformative effects on multiple aspects of society - from policing to education to financial services. This course will also explore the risks various technologies can pose to privacy, safety, liberty, and well-being. The course will feature guest speakers from leading practitioners in the space. Potentially including the ACLU, Higher Ground Labs, Elucd (YC17), NYU Better Policing Initiative, Microsoft, and more.

ITPG-GT.2483.1 () | Instructor: Lyel Resner | Wed 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date

Rest of You [2 unit(s) - ]

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 | Mon 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date

Sound in Space [2 unit(s) - ]

Stereo (2-speaker) sound is the default way we produce and distribute most audio. This class challenges the stereophonic-centricity of digital sound and instead focuses on the context of listening, interfacing and interacting with audio beyond 2 speakers. Students will learn how to work with multichannel speaker systems to create room-scale interactive music and sonic environments. We will explore conventional and unconventional loudspeaker arrangements starting first with mono (one channel) and working our way up to 40 speakers. Together, we will examine the affordances and limitations of spatial and multichannel sound using Javascript (Tone.js) and Max/MSP. Students will perform/install their final on the 40-channel speaker array at Dave & Gabe’s studio in Bushwick. Topics include 3D sound, acoustics, perceptions, space and listening. Prerequisites: willingness to listen critically, some programming experience. No formal music training required.

ITPG-GT.2485.1 () | Instructor: Yotam Mann | Mon 6:30pm to 9:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 6-All Semester | Start Date

The Revolution Will Be Digitized [2 unit(s) - ]

From Gill-Scott Heron\'s \"The Revolution Will Not be Televised\" to Norbert Wiener\'s cybernetics to Egypt\'s Tahrir Square uprising to the power of Black Twitter to the Black Panther Party to post-work societies and beyond. In this course, students will explore the societal impacts of technology by examining how race, socioeconomics and power have historically operated in America, ways those tactics are being embedded into technology today and potentially into the future, and navigate geo-politics through a second-wave cybernetics lens. By the end of the course, students will engage in speculative practices to design equitable technoculture futures. This course is designed to be a seminar, combining research, theory and practice with the help of guest speakers and roundtable discussions on readings.

Thesis Part 2: Production [2 unit(s) - ]

This course focuses on the Design, User Testing, and Production of the final Thesis project. Students will meet with the Thesis Advisor bi-weekly, often in small study groups or 1:1 meetings. Prerequisite: Thesis Part 1: Research and Development.

ITPG-GT.2099.1 () | Instructor: Kathleen Wilson | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-All Semester | Start Date

ITPG-GT.2099.2 () | Instructor: Sarah Rothberg | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-All Semester | Start Date

ITPG-GT.2099.3 () | Instructor: Nancy Hechinger | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 7-All Semester | Start Date

Accessibility and Assistive Technology in Historical Sites and Museums [3 unit(s) - ]

This multidisciplinary course allows students from a variety of backgrounds to work together to learn about and develop assistive technology for historical sites and museums. Students will work in teams to develop prototypes for individuals with diverse motor, cognitive, sensory, and behavior-emotional abilities.

Looking Forward [3 unit(s) - ]

This course surveys assistive technologies for people with low vision and blindness, from historical, contemporary, and forward-thinking perspectives. Guest lectures from leaders in the field and people with lived experience will help students learn about low-vision and blindness accessibility across several domains (web, wayfinding, literacy, socialization, etc.). In the second half of the class, students will partner with each other and clients/community members to develop their own projects that transform and advance these technologies.

Technology, Media and Democracy: Addressing Challenges to an Informed Electorate [3 unit(s) - ]

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 | Mon 7:00pm to 8:30pm / Fri 12:30pm to 3:20pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Artist\'s Life [4 unit(s) - ]

This class will introduce the basic skills and resources required to pursue a career as an artist. Students will learn the day to day tasks of working artists, such as writing critically about their own work, drafting grant proposals, and planning the business administration of their studios. They will also learn how to balance commercial and experimental projects, collaboration and community work, and teaching and studio practice. They will engage in the critical text about ethical dilemmas of working with art institutions, corporations and academia. By the end of class, students will write a personal statement, update an art portfolio, and apply for an artist residency. While the class will focus on contemporary art and artists, students who are interested in other disciplines may benefit from learning about entrepreneurship, authorship and cultural industry.

ITPG-GT.2057.1 () | Instructor: Taeyoon Choi | Thur 12:10pm to 3:05pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date

Cabinets of Wonder [4 unit(s) - ]

If you were inventing a museum today, what would it look like? Who would be there? What would its main purpose be? What would the audience experience? 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; to see things they would never otherwise be able to see. And now there’s television, movies, the internet, and travel. Why do people go to museums now? Will they in the future? Today, most museums seek to educate and to include more and more diverse visitors than they used to. How do people learn in public spaces? How do we know that they do? How can they make use of the new interactive technologies to support the experience and not lose what’s special about them? The class is an exploration, observation, theory, and design class for you to imagine the future of museums and exhibits. Museum and exhibit visits are your primary assignments for the first half of the course—usually accompanied by a reading. You will also make some record of your visit (including a sketchbook, a diorama, reviews). There will be guest speakers from Museums and exhibit design firms, and several field trips. In the second half of the course, you begin to imagine how you might reinvent a museum and develop a full-scale presentation of your own Cabinet of Wonder. About Emily Conrad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily/

ITPG-GT.2470.1 () | Instructor: Emily Conrad | Wed 6:30pm to 9:25pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date

Choreographic Interventions [4 unit(s) - ]

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 | Fri 3:20pm to 6:15pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date

Collective Play [4 unit(s) - ]

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 | Tues 12:10pm to 3:05pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date

Computational Letterforms and Layout [4 unit(s) - ]

Language is more than just words and meanings. Language is material: it's paper and ink, pixels and screens, fingertips on keyboards. In this course, students will gain an understanding of how language's material manifestations are represented digitally, and learn computational techniques in order to create new work and new systems that challenge conventions in type design and page layout. Topics include asemic writing, concrete poetry, markup languages, character encodings, generative typography, and printing technologies (including pen plotters). Readings and lectures in the class draw from the fields of computation, critical theory, literary studies, art history, mathematics and graphic design. A series of production-oriented assignments lead up to a final project. In addition to critique, sessions will feature class discussions and technical tutorials. Prerequisites: Introduction to Computational Media or equivalent programming experience.

ITPG-GT.2051.1 () | Instructor: Allison Parrish | Wed 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Connected Devices and Networked Interaction [4 unit(s) - ]

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 | Tues 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 7-First Half | Start Date

Critical Objects [4 unit(s) - ]

Art, design and experimental electronics can be great tools for inciting discussions of complex issues such as privacy, sexism, racism, economic inequality and climate change. This course aims to provoke thoughtful discussions of pressing issues through the combination of Art, Industrial Design and Embedded Electronics (sensors, actuators, Wi-Fi enabled microcontrollers - ESP32, raspberry pis). Topics will include technological disobedience, adversarial design and critical engineering. In this 14-week class, students will combine technology, design, and critical theory to build Art Objects / Interactive Sculptures that are aesthetically intriguing while socially relevant. This is a production heavy four-credit course, where students will learn about new-media critical theory, design and electronics. Prerequisites include an open mind, the drive to make, and physical computing.

ITPG-GT.2496.1 () | Instructor: Pedro Galvao Cesar de Oliveira | Mon 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Data and Publics [4 unit(s) - ]

In this course, we’ll investigate two closely related ideas: public data and data publics. We’ll learn how to access and represent data from an assortment of existing public data sources, how to liberate currently obfuscated data sets, and how to create our own useful/whimsical/critical APIs from scratch. We’ll also investigate the act of putting data into public space - through sculpture, projections, performance, and participatory interventions. Particular attention will be paid to methods which bring data back to communities from which it was collected, and to tactics which build grassroots literacies, respect local ways of knowing and reinforce capabilities for stewardship and sovereignty.

Designing the Absurd [4 unit(s) - ]

Inspired by the Japanese art of Chindōgu, this class will introduce a playful and whimsical approach to learn industrial design. In this 14-week studio format class, students will develop gadgets, inventions, and electronic devices that present absurd solutions to problems, while learning concepts and techniques of design ideation, prototyping, model making, CMF (color, material, and finishes), and manufacturing. This is a production heavy four-credit course, where students will learn about industrial design and tangible interactions. Prerequisite: Intro to Phys. Comp. (ITPG-GT 2301)

Electronic Rituals, Oracles and Fortune-Telling [4 unit(s) - ]

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 | Tues 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Experiments in Augmented Reality [4 unit(s) - ]

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. In this course, students will acquire an understanding of basic concepts and techniques necessary to design, prototype, and build simple AR experiences - with a consideration of not just visual but also aural AR. We’ll focus on the design/UX of AR experiences as well as the technical foundations necessary to actually code these experiences. We’ll supplement design/coding exercises with an overview of the history of AR and discuss a broad range of use cases. Our tool of choice will be WebXR, but we will go over prototyping techniques outside of these platforms to speed up the design process.

ITPG-GT.2037.1 () | Instructor: Irene Alvarado | Tues 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Homemade Hardware [4 unit(s) - ]

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 | TBD | Meeting Pattern: | Start Date

In and Out of Reality: Integrative Mixed-Reality (XR) Studio [4 unit(s) - ]

There is a substantial gap between what AR/VR is capable of today and the future that enthusiasts envision. The hardware is progressing, yet there are lack of design tools and methodologies. Effective augmented and virtual reality games and experience require good storytelling, animation, production and solid graphics. Students will learn a myriad of processes including spatial interface design, volumetric capture, working with spatial audio, porting animations and game programming. This course presumes no prior knowledge and is intended to jump start a career in AR/VR development and interaction design. The goal is to have relevant portfolio projects for entering industry. Students will create content in Unity 3D to agnostically deploy on headsets, mobile phones or tablets. Students will have access to a wide range of available hardware. In the beginning of the course, students will learn to implement the most important AR/VR interaction concepts – concepts such as selection, manipulation, travel, wayfinding, menus and inputting text in Unity3D. In the latter part of the course, students will implement prototypes that will be periodically critiqued by experts at Oculus, Magic Leap, Google, and other top companies. *You do not need to be a programmer. This is intended for students interested in 3D art, interaction design, sound design and game development. All are important for immersive development*

Intangible Interaction [4 unit(s) - ]

Have you noticed that touchless devices and systems have become more prevalent these days? For example, automatic toilets, faucets, hand sanitizer dispensers, thermometers, and even paper towel dispensers have sensors that allow them to detect when they are needed. Have you seen interfaces where people can type with different body postures? How about musical instruments that you can play by waving your hands in the air? This course will focus on researching and designing intangible interactions. Intangible interactions are those that we engage in without involving direct physical contact. Intangible interfaces don’t have a tangible form that explicitly instructs us how to interact with them, and these interactions utilize other forms of feedback than those we feel through touch. While technologies used for intangible interaction–such as computer vision and sensors are now more available and accessible, knowledge around the design and implementation of effective intangible interactions is a much less documented subject. We will explore practical, artistic, and whimsical applications of intangible interaction and look at the ways it can enhance human-computer interactions in our everyday lives. For example, it can allow new ways to interact with educational exhibits, artifacts, and artworks. We will explore intangibility as a poetic medium that can open up possibilities for creating work that challenges human senses and perception. We will discuss what are cultural and social implications that we need to consider in designing intangible interactions. What does it mean for an interaction to be “intuitive” and what are some of the assumptions that are embedded into designs that we need to challenge? Technical topics that will be discussed in the class include: non touch-based sensors including optical sensors; proximity sensing; optimizing sensor readings on Arduino; extending capability of sensors with light pipes and lenses; body tracking with cameras ; signals; environmental sensing. Tags: intangible, interaction, artistic, poetic, physical, sensors, physicalcomputing, hci, research, art, environment, playful, fun

ITPG-GT.2055.1 () | Instructor: Yeseul Song | Thur 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Intro to Wearables [4 unit(s) - ]

With emerging research and development with soft circuit technologies and its integration into textile and clothing design, the garment as a reactive interface opens up new possibilities in engendering self-expressions, sensory experiences and more. This 14-week class is to introduce students to this realm by creating connections between hardware engineering and textile crafting. The class is for students with basic physical computing knowledge to explore the possibility of wearables, and arouse discussion about the potential in re-imagining our relationship with personal devices, textiles and garment design as an interactive media.

ITPG-GT.2189.1 () | Instructor: Jingwen Zhu | Tues 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Light and Interactivity [4 unit(s) - ]

We use light in all aspects of our lives, yet we seldom notice it. That is by design: lighting in everyday life, well-designed, doesn’t call attention to itself. Instead it places focus on the subjects and activities which it supports. Solid state lighting technologies and digital control technologies have made major changes in the lighting industry. They support a wide range of color rendering and control than earlier lighting technologies, an ability to change light over a wider range of time, and they can communicate with all kinds of digital systems and devices. On the design side, this class takes a "post-pixelist" approach: rather than making images with light, we'll use it to illuminate people and the spaces and activities in which they engage. We won't focus on pixels or projections, but rather on casting light on the subject at hand. We'll consider the intersection of lighting design and interaction design. We'll analyze lighting and describe its effects, in order to design and use it more effectively. On the technical side, you'll learn the basics of the physics of light, its transmission and perception. We'll talk about how the materials which we cast light on or through affect how we perceive it. We’ll talk about sources of light, both current and historical. We’ll work with computerized control systems for lighting, and we’ll design a few lighting fixtures for different purposes. You’ll get practice planning and building electronic and microcontroller-driven circuits for lighting, and you'll learn digital communications protocols used in the lighting industry. Assignments will cover lighting observation and description; sensing and measurement of light; design of new lighting fixtures; and control of existing fixtures and lighting systems. This class will be production-intensive throughout the course of the spring semester. Second-year students should consider that the assignments in this class must be done in addition to their thesis work, regardless of the topic of their thesis.

ITPG-GT.2133.1 () | Instructor: Tom Igoe | Wed 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Live Image Processing and Performance [4 unit(s) - ]

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 | Wed 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Math for Artists [4 unit(s) - ]

In this class students will learn math tools to boost their digital practice, fix common problems, and understand the math behind our human perception of the physical world. This course spans different branches of math including geometry, linear algebra, logarithmic thinking, and statistics as they relate to a programmer making digital art with our contemporary media ecosystem. The aim of this course isn\'t to become calculators, rather strengthen our intuition through historical and ethnomathematics perspectives and foster a new relationship to math. The prerequisites to this class are basic arithmetic skills and an introduction to programming. We will create applications using free and open-source software, including Python and p5.js.

Mobile Lab [4 unit(s) - ]

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 | Thur 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Music Interaction Design [4 unit(s) - ]

This class is a project development studio for interactive music projects —that is, pieces of music that are not linear, but rather offer multiple dimensions for listeners to explore. Applications include generative music installations, novel instruments, participative performances, museum exhibitions, games, and tools for producing and teaching music. Students will take a project from concept to execution over several iterations, applying interaction design, creative coding, and music production tools and techniques. The project development process will include gathering aural and visual references, composing graphic/tactile notations, and creating focused studies to explore interaction with specific musical elements. This work will inform the design and implementation of a functional prototype which students will test, evaluate and refine to produce their final project. The first half of the semester, the class format will be a combination of lectures, design and coding exercises, and reading discussions. To support different kinds of projects, in-class examples will include desktop (Max/MSP, Ableton Live, Max for Live), web (Tone.js + p5.js), and physical computing frameworks (Arduino compatible micro-controllers). During the second half of the semester we will shift to a more self-directed approach, as students work on their final projects. Professional practitioners will come in to share their work in the field and give students feedback on their projects. Coming in with a specific project to develop is welcome; conceiving a project during the class is encouraged, too. Some experience in making or producing music will be useful, but is not required. ICM and Physical Computing or equivalent experience are required.

ITPG-GT.2475.1 () | Instructor: Luisa Pereira | Tues 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Playful Communication of Serious Research [4 unit(s) - ]

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 | Thur 6:30pm to 9:25pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date

Playful Experiences [4 unit(s) - ]

Forget the screen. People want to be part of the action. They don’t want to watch detectives and control superhero avatars. They want to solve the mystery and be the hero. They want to experience it. We see this craving for playful experience in everything from immersive theater to escape rooms to the Tough Mudder to gamified vacation packages. Designing live experiences for large audiences that demand agency offers a distinct set of challenges, from how much choice you give each participant to how many people you can through the experience. We’ll look at examples from pervasive games to amusement parks to immersive theater, examining both the design choices and technology that make the experiences possible. Along the way we’ll create large, playful experiences that put the participant at the center of the action. About Greg Trefry: https://www.giganticmechanic.com/our-team/#trefry

ITPG-GT.2467.1 () | Instructor: Gregory Trefry | Mon 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Project Development Studio [4 unit(s) - ]

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

Subtraction [4 unit(s) - ]

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 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Synthetic Architectures [4 unit(s) - ]

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 | Mon 12:10pm to 3:05pm | Meeting Pattern: 12 | Start Date

Tangible Interaction and Device Design [4 unit(s) - ]

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. This is where interaction design meets industrial design. In this class, you’ll design, program, and build devices with tangible controls in order to better understand how humans understand and control technical systems 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. You\'ll learn programming and electronic techniques to sense state change, thresholds, peaks, and other signs of user action. You\'ll also learn how to design, shop for, and construct housings for the devices you build. On the electronics side, the primary tools will be the microcontroller and common tangible controls: pushbuttons, switches, rotary encoders, rotary and slide potentiometers, force sensors and touch sensors. The class will also cover on-device feedback through LEDs, speakers, and force-feedback actuators. On the fabrication side, you\'ll work with the tools of the shop and VectorWorks CAD program. You\'ll design and build three projects in the course of the semester. Projects will be designed (and parts specified). Projects will build on the skills learned in Intro to Physical Computing and Intro to Fabrication. 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.

The Nature of Code [4 unit(s) - ]

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 09:00am to 11:30am | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

The New Arcade [4 unit(s) - ]

With platforms like Steam and Itch.io making independent games more accessible to the public, we're starting to see a movement toward physical installations of indie games as well. The New Arcade pays tribute to arcade cabinet designs of the 80's and 90's, but infuses them with new interfaces and digitally fabricated components. In this class, students will learn how to use the Unity game engine to design a simple arcade game. They'll learn about aspects that separate an arcade game from other types of games, and interface their game with different kinds of hardware using microcontrollers. In the second half of the class, students will use Fusion360 to construct a new arcade experience using digital fabrication tools like laser cutters, and CNC machines. The class will culminate in a physical installation that showcases their game in a public gallery. Prerequisites: Physical Computing About Mark Kleback: https://wonderville.nyc

ITPG-GT.2063.1 () | Instructor: Mark Kleback | Thur 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

The World, Pixel By Pixel [4 unit(s) - ]

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

Thesis [4 unit(s) - ]

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: Gabe Barcia-Colombo | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

ITPG-GT.2102.3 () | Instructor: Mimi Onuoha | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

ITPG-GT.2102.4 () | Instructor: Zoe Fraade-Blanar | Tues 3:20pm to 5:50pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Veillance [4 unit(s) - ]

The course title, “Veillance” is a reference to the root of “surveillance” and “sousveillance”, watching from above and watching from below respectively. As digital media becomes a greater part of our everyday lives, it is important to understand the new forms of surveillance that it enables as well as to harness these capabilities and perhaps to create systems of sousveillance. Through the course, we’ll critically examine technologies that have become integral part of our lives; the technologies that drive the internet, the capabilities of web browsers, mobile phones, and the emerging class of networked devices such as IP cameras and Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. Through the course of this examination, we’ll look at how this technology works, the policies that govern their use, what their benefits are, and finally look at what we are giving up by embracing them. This will be a hands-on endeavor; we’ll develop software to illustrate their use and misuse as well as looking for ways that we can harness their “veillance” capabilities for creative, educational, and possibly subversive purposes. Of course, in this process, we’ll pay particular attention to ethical and moral concerns. The course will have weekly reading and technical assignments, encompasses group work, and will culminate final projects.

ITPG-GT.2469.1 () | Instructor: Shawn Van Every | Wed 12:10pm to 2:40pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

Video Sculpture [4 unit(s) - ]

Sculpture is defined as a three-dimensional form of artistic expression concerned with space: occupying it, relating to it, and influencing the perception of it. In this class, we will look at new ways of implementing video mapping, interactive time-based media and augmented reality as a medium for creating engaging interactive physical and virtual sculptures. How do we create video sculptures that move, emote and react to our presence? The course will focus on taking video off the screen and into three-dimensional space in the form of site-specific and or physical installation. Through a series of weekly experiments and assignments, students will work with projection, video mapping, mixed reality and physical sensors to hack video into meaningful works of art. Class will be divided between lectures, guest speakers and critical discussion/presentation of work.

ITPG-GT.2193.1 () | Instructor: Gabe Barcia-Colombo | Wed 6:30pm to 9:00pm | Meeting Pattern: 14 | Start Date

New York University

Interactive Telecommunications Program

Spring 2020