“What we are contemplating here is the extension of information-sensing, -processing, and -networking capabilities to entire classes of things we have never before thought of as ‘technology’… artifacts such as clothing, furniture, walls and doorways.”
Adam Greenfield in Everyware: The Dawnging Age of Ubiquitous Computing
Networking the Everyday is the theme for our current course on Tangible User Interfaces (TUI). Led by Heather Martin (with visits from Durrell Bishop, Christopher Scales and David Cuartielles), our class is exploring how the tactile and physical interactions we use everyday can help give new form to digital information and computer interfaces. We are paying special attention to the role these interactions will play in ubiquitous computing, networked objects and a world “beyond the desktop”.
The bulk of this course will be spent working on a single project. Here’s the brief:
We would like you to design a pair (or series) of networked objects that illustrate digital information (bits) in a physical form. Your objects must be manipuable by your specified user group (i.e. they should not just be ambient physical objects that only reflect and display digital data) but must enable people to interact directly with data through your objects. Your concepts can be of any scale (i.e. jewelry-like, hand-held devices, interactive lighting, interactive furniture, interactive environments etc.) but your final concept must be physically interactive, contain no display or screen (LCD) and be produced as fully working electronic prototypes by the end of the course. You also need to consider what physical interactions, affordances, attributes and metaphors are appropriate for your user group - and be able to rationalize why these are relevant.
We are looking for solutions that show appropriate use of technology but that are also beautiful and well-crafted objects which are useful, pragmatic and make sense to your users - whilst being simple, delightful to use – but not a mere gimmick.
Post a Comment