In this course, we will look at Physical Computing as a method of Interaction Design. Our definition of Physical Computing refers to the use of hardware and code to make interactive objects that can respond to events in the real world. These events may be from the environment (temperature, radiation, etc.) or user interactions (touch, speech, etc.). These devices might respond with direct physical feedback and action or by performing actions in a digital environment. Physical Computing also describes the creative problem-solving process through the use of technological and functional prototypes.
Course Goals
The students learn how to handle hardware and code in order to prototype their own design outcomes. The students develop an understanding of the characteristics of physical interactions and demonstrate them through functional prototypes. From a technical perspective, students learn the basics of electronics, microcontroller programming (Arduino), working with digital and analogue sensors, actuators and displays.
Course Structure
The course takes place in two separate blocks: Physical Computing Basics in the first two weeks and the Main Project in the last two weeks. In the first block, students will work individually through the introductory topics, while the Main Project is in groups of two to three students
Grades will be based on group presentations, class participation, home assignments, documentation and final work. An attendance of min. 80% is required to pass the course.
Individual Work (weeks 1 and 2, and Bits & Atoms III)40%
Group Work (weeks 3 and 4) 60%
13.10.2021 Seminarraum 4.K15 (Luke + Paulina)
14.10.2021 Seminarraum 4.K15 (Luke)
15.10.2021 Seminarraum 4.K15 (Luke)
19.10.2021 Seminarraum 4.K15 ( Luke + Paulina)
20.10.2021 Seminarraum 4.K15 (Luke + Paulina)
21.10.2021 Seminarraum 4.K15 (Paulina)
22.10.2021 Seminarraum 4.K15 (Luke + Paulina)
26.10.2021 Seminarraum 5.D01 (Luke + Paulina)
27.10.2021 Seminarraum 5.D02 (Luke + Paulina)
28.10.2021 Seminarraum 4.D11 (Luke + Paulina)
29.10.2021 Atelier (Luke + Paulina)
02.11.2021 Atelier(Luke)
03.11.2021 Atelier (Luke + Paulina)
04.11.2021 Atelier (Luke + Paulina)
05.11.2021 Seminarraum 5.K11 (Luke + Paulina)
08.11.2021 Extension: 19.11.2021
Supplied Materials:
Software (install before course begin)
Other Tools:
Materials you should rent or provide yourself:
This section will be populated with every individual exercise after it's assigned. Please ensure that you document each exercise after you complete it.
Develop an interactive device, that connects a physical input to a physical output. I.E inputs from one sensor provide the data for controlling a physical actuator, light or sound. Please write your name and devices your borrow in this google doc.
Sound (Buzzer or Loudspeaker) | Movement (Motor, Solenoid, Servo) | Light (LED, Neopixel, lightbulb, laser) | Tactile (vibration motor, actuator, Peltier element) | Graphic Display (OLED, LCD, 7 segments, Printer, computer screen with p5.js) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sound (microphone, piezo) | |||||
Movement (distance, motion, gesture, gyro, pressure, flex sensor) | |||||
Atmospheric (Temperature, humidity, air quality, pressure) | |||||
Bio-sensor (Pulse, GSR, EMG) |
|||||
Light (colour, luminance, IR) | |||||
Touch (buttons, pressure, capacitance) |
Starting in the 1960's Neuroscientist Bach-y-Rita undertook groundbreaking research on the field of neural plasticity. He and fellow researchers began to see that the brain is highly adaptable and capable of physical changes in response to experiences. Some common examples of neuroplasticity are in deaf people who develop enhanced peripheral vision, or in blind individuals where areas of the brain associated with visual processing might be adapted for echolocation. Rita quickly transferred these findings into applied research, knowing that the brain could learn to "see" with the skin, as a means to overcome blindness with technology. This field was named Sensory Substitution and primarily sought to provide sight to the blind and in other cases of sensory impairment.
Using the method of sensory substitution, we may learn to perceive the world in novel ways. Our physical and mental capabilities are evolved to survive in environments that are completely incongruous with our modern experience: even a photo of a spider sparks fear, yet we can not perceive and respond appropriately to harmful forms of radiation. What new forms of sensing do we need for the contemporary or future habitat?
The theory of Embodied Cognition stipulates that the brain does not function in void independent of the body, but that intelligence is both distributed in the body and environment. New research indicates an inseparable link between sensing and moving. The neocortex of our brains is made up of tens of thousands of Cortical Columns that repeat the same algorithms for receiving sensory information and performing motor movement. In order to sense our environment, we must move: from the focusing and positioning of the eye to see, to the movement of our fingers across a surface to understand its texture and even the positioning of our ears to hear the location of sounds. In order to perceive, we must act.
Design a sensory substitution device that enables us to perceive new information about our surroundings.
Background Research:
Initial Concept development:
Sensory substitution and the human-machine interface by PaulBach-y-Rita and Stephen W. Kercel
Tactile sensory substitution: Models for enaction in HCI
A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins
The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge
https://numenta.com/blog/2019/01/16/the-thousand-brains-theory-of-intelligence/
Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain
Sensory Pathways for the Plastic Mind (Chacin_Aisen_Thesis.pdf)
Group 1: Janosch, Johannes, Réjane, Silvan
Group 2: Bin, Eleonora, Miguel, Svenja
BANK (EXTERNAL) ---> ? , MAGNETIC FIELD (EXTERNAL) ---> ?
Group 3: Fabrizio, Nicola, Sandro
VISION ---> SMELL
Group 4: Dzhuulia, Elena, Guan, Thore
NOCICEPTION (INTERNAL) ---> TOUCH , PROPRIOCEPTION (INTERNAL)---> TOUCH
Group 5: Daniel, Micaela, Nadia
LIGHT ---> ?