PROPOSAL “THIS = THEN = THAT”

“THIS = THEN = THAT” (TEAM-OF-ONE or TEAM-OF-TWO)

PROPOSAL DUE: FRIDAY OCTOBER 4TH @ 13H30

The FINAL ASSIGNMENT “THIS = THEN = THAT” is an Open Brief project, which will span the entire semester and your progression will be evaluated over three accumulative milestones: a Proposal (HARDCOPY), a Physical Prototype (IN-CLASS) and a final Artifact or Experience (IN-CLASS).

Take the time to read, synthesise, sketch, design, code, solder and build – iteratively. The onus for the FINAL ASSIGNMENT is on conceptual development, prototyping and the implementation of Tangible Media and Physical Computing artifacts from the perspective of technical proficiency, functionality, aesthetics, creativity, criticality and meaning (personal & social).

Take the time to think about what you would really want to Explore, Research and Make within the domain of Tangible Media and Physical Computing.

FOUR RESEARCH QUESTIONS

    • Think of a context and an environment where you would like to intervene. Where will you present your project? Who is it made for?
    • Think about the kind of relationship you wish to foster between your users and the artifact or installation. How can you use your project to destabilize the users and make them reflect on themselves, their environment and society?
    • Think about the notion of empowerment. Is your artifact really helping or challenging its users in any way or is it just another psychological prosthesis?
    • Think about something meaningful. What are you trying to tell us with your project?

TOPICS YOU MAY WANT TO EXPLORE

    • Tangible User Interfaces – connecting people to the digital world through new physical objects.
    • Responsive Environments – large-scale installations that react to user intervention.
    • Wearable Electronics – reactive fabrics that challenge our relationship with the things we normally wear.
    • Expressive Interfaces – new media for expression, physical instruments for performance.
    • Distributed Sensor/Actuator Networks – swarms of simple networked modules that exhibit emergent
      behaviours.

CONCEPTUAL DOMAINS FOR A THING:

    • Slave to the algorithm
    • A machine’s search for Meaning
    • Eyes, Computers have them too
    • Me, myself and AI
    • Homes without Boundaries
    • Spaces become Participants
    • Ephemeral Stories
    • Watch… It listens
    • Interface – Our ears
    • Rise of Soft Robotics
    • Lo-Fi Data, Hi-Fi Experiences

SPECULATIVE FUTURES – BRAINSTORMING:

    • What is the story behind your design?
    • Where does it come from?
    • Why does it exist?
    • What is the personality of your design?
    • How does its personality manifest itself in the physical world?
    • What makes your design do what it does?
    • Is the personality of your design related to its physical manifestation?
    • What emotions does your design evoke/provoke, are they the same for everyone ?

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

    • Your project must have more than one level of Interaction and must afford the intended modes of Interaction.
    • It must be meaningful to users beyond the element of surprise.
    • It must be functional for the presentation.

DELIVERABLES: PROPOSAL – OCTOBER 4TH (10%)

    • Each TEAM (OF-ONE or OF-TWO) will submit a Project Proposal (HARDCOPY @ Start of Class) & on Github
    • HARDCOPY of Project Proposal must list the Team Members & explicitly declare GitHub Repository URL
    • Selected TEAM MEMBERS’S GitHub must host ALL DOCUMENTATION (Hardcopy PDF, Video, Photos, Circuits Diagrams, Code etc.)
    • Documentation will be located on Github > ASSIGNMENTS > ASSIGNMENT_PROPOSAL
    • Project Proposal Requirements:
      • A Non-Technical Project Description which addresses the FOUR RESEARCH QUESTIONS (MINIMUM 256 WORDS PER QUESTION)
      • A Non-Technical Evaluation of Sensors and their associated Affordances which would ideally support your project’s proposed Interaction Design strategy (MINIMUM 256 WORDS).
      • Describe your Intention and the Project’s proposed Interaction Design Strategy via a storyboard (MINIMUM 8 DETAILED INTERACTION FRAMES)
      • Research three similar projects and provide a summary of each (MINIMUM 256 WORDS EACH).
      • Write a paragraph on how/why your project will be different and impactful in comparison to the projects you researched (MINIMUM 256 WORDS).

The project proposal: “THIS = THEN = THAT” document should be formatted with appropriate sections and styled – 11pt Type Face and 1.5 Line Spacing. We also expect correct and appropriate use of Language, Grammar and Spelling.