Instructor: Amit Pitaru
Whether we design an application for the small touch-pad of a cell phone, a game for an elderly user, or produce art through a self-defined conviction, our work is often driven by constraints – some chosen, others imposed. With digital technologies, one other constraint is our own ability to keep up with the ever-shifting tools that we use. Does this perpetual learning-curve stifle our creative process? Or in contrast, can an abundance of technical know-how cloud a simple vision? The goal of this course is to make work that is fueled by the positive constraints (our audience, our vision) rather then the damaging ones (our lack of ability to know everything about the tools we use). Through weekly assignments, we draw ideas and production techniques from art, game design, music (sound-art), cognitive science and universal-design, towards an understanding of how to carry our initial ideas through a development process, without compromising quality and clarity of vision. For a final assignment students are asked to create a project for a specific target audience, defined by age/gender/race/culture and ability. The goal is to allow oneself a space for exploration while working towards a focused result. Some ideas for projects may include simplifying an application for the growing elderly population (can grandmama really use that fancy Nokia phone?), a software game based solely on audio (ever played doom without a monitor in a dark room?), or an art-piece that clearly conveys your artistic intentions with a digital medium (think of interactive art that’s not utterly frustrating/annoying for gallery goers). In either case, we test our work early and often (starting mid semester), learn to identify problems, and solve them through an iterative design process. When needed, software examples are programmed using Processing. We also use simple p-comp modules to quicken exploration (such as custom keyboard emulators). A fair understanding of ICM and P-comp is required, as you will be asked not to spend the majority of your energy learning new technologies, but rather make best of what you already know. That’s one of the course constraints.