Weekly Schedule – Intro to Interactive Media

This is all highly subject to change…

January 22 (Mon)
- Introductions
- Housekeeping
- Why are we here? What’s the class about?
- Example work, get excited
January 24 (Wed)
- Electricity, breadboards, basic tools of the trade.
- Assignment :
  - Create a circuit with a switch that doesn’t require the use of your hands. Make a post on the blog about it (Due Jan. 29).
  - Examples:
    - Get creative with switches: https://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/labs/labs-electronics/switches/#Get_Creative_With_Switches
    - Mustache Example: http://itp.nyu.edu/~tlc345/blog/mustache-switch/
- Reading :
  - There are No Electrons (pdf) Write a blog post with a 100 – 200 word response.

January 29 (Mon)
- show your work!
- discussion – There are No Electrons
- Assignment (before Wednesday):
  - Observation assignment (to be discussed in class). Write up your observations on the class site (Due Jan. 31).
  - Read Digital Input & Output
  - Read Microcontrollers, the basics
January 31 (Wed)
- Intro to Arduino programming, digital input/output
- Readings (please post responses for both):
  - The Art of Interactive Design Chapter 1
  - The Jump to Universality
- Assignment (post documentation):
  - Expanding on your initial switch from last week, make a program with the Arduino that combines multiple digital inputs and outputs (Due Feb. 5)

February 5 (Mon)
- show your work
- discussion of readings
- Read about analog input
February 7 (Wed)
- Mapping, analog input
- Readings (please post responses for both):
  - Chapter 1 of The Design of Everyday Things, The Psychopathology of Everyday Things
  - Norman,“Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better”
- Assignment (post documentation):
  - get information from an analog sensor and use it to control an LED in an unexpected way. (Due Feb. 12)

February 12 (Mon)
- show your work
- discussion of readings
- Reading:
  - Analog Output (note the videos at the beginning)
  - tone
  - servos
February 14 (Wed)
- Analog output, tone & servo
- Reading (please post responses for both):
  - A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design
  - A follow-up article
- Assignment (post documentation):
  - Work in pairs: Make a musical instrument using tone AND one or more servos. (Due Feb. 19)

February 19 (Mon)
- show your work
- discussion of readings
- Start your stupid pet trick (Due February 26th). Show off your knowledge of all things I/O (incorporate an input and output that demonstrates some basic algorithmic processing) . (here’s a great version of this concept)
February 21 (Wed)
- General tips and building tricks
- Debugging
- In class work on Stupid Pet Trick
- Assignment:
  - Finish the stupid pet trick (Due Feb. 28)

February 26 (Mon)
- Reading :
  - Making Things Move, Ch 6
February 28 (Wed)
- Show your stupid pet tricks
- Motors, transistors, relays and high current loads.
- Reading
  - Making Interactive Art: Set the Stage, Then Shut Up and Listen (Blog post)
  - Physical Computing’s Greatest hits and misses (Blog post)
- Assignment : motor lab, make a motion like a person (Due Mar. 5)

March 5 (Mon)
- Show your motor project
- Assignment:
  - Handout : Self Test. You will not be graded on this, but please return it to me next class meeting
- Download Processing
- Read Getting Started with Processing
- Read Coordinate systems and space
March 7 (Wed)
- Drawing shapes, using the cursor to draw
- Assignment:
  - Make a self portrait (Due Mar. 21)
  - Read
    - Her Code Got Humans on the Moon

Spring Break – No class March 12-19

March 21 (Wed)
- show the selfies
- discuss reading and video
- Reading: Lev Manovich (make blog post)
- Watch Casey Reas’ Eyeo talk on chance operations (make blog post)
- Assignment :
  - Recreate an old computer art design from an issue of “Computer Graphics and Art” Triangulation has a bunch of the old issues of the magazine as pdfs (Due Mar. 26)

March 26 (Mon)
- Show your work
- discuss reading
March 28 (Wed)
- functions & objects
- Reading:
  - Graham Pullin, Design Meets Disability
- Assignment:
  - make an art piece or a game using object oriented programming. (Due Apr. 2)

April 2 (Mon)
- Show your work
April 4 (Wed)
- arrays & text
- Reading:
  - Digitize everything (blog post)
- Assignment:
  - Either make some sort of data visualization, or create a generative text output. (Due Apr. 9)

April 9 (Mon)
- Show your work
- discuss reading
April 11 (Wed)
- In Class: Get one byte going between your Arduino and Processing
- Assignment:
  - Write on this blog a paragraph or two about what computing means to you at this point. Is it adding something to your life? Is it helping you become a better person? What are you getting out of it, what do others get from it?
  - Make a physical controller or physical output for something you have made in processing with serial communication (Due Apr. 16)

April 16 (Mon)
- Show controller
- Brainstorm ideas for Final Project, including the concept, technical requirements, and any equipment needs (due Apr. 18)
April 18 (Wed)
- Discuss final project ideas
- Pixels
- Assignment:
  - Post on blog final Final project idea (Due April 19th)
  - Read Golan Levin’s notes on computer Vision for Artists (blog post)

April 23 (Mon)
- Image Processing and Tracking
April 25 (Wed)
- 75% completed prototype of your final due
- Assignment:
  - Do user testing with at least 3 people. Record video of them playing with your project as well as their feedback. Before class on Monday post this user testing documentation on the blog. Also address the testers’ feedback indicating what you’ll do or not do based on what they said and why. (Due April 30th)