| Beschreibung |
Computers and sensors are becoming more and more integrated and ubiquitous in users' daily environments and routines. Thus, the amount and types of information that is collected is constantly growing. In communication between users, such information can be crucial, but is sometimes difficult to convey due to the lack of language. For example, it is easy to report on a successful training session by referring to miles run or time spent in the gym, but other areas lack such quantifiable metrics or even understandable language at all. We call such information "hidden data" that is typically not directly accessible to users, such as hormone levels, emotional status, or memories and dreams.
The goal of this seminar-project style course is to explore the possibilities for data physicalization of such "hidden data", allowing users to learn a physical language that they can use as a medium for implicit or explicit communication in a collocated situation. Through a designerly approach, we will explore hidden data in our lives, how we can represent this data, and the potential consequences. This course is perfect for students who would like to be challenged to find problems, who enjoy multi-disciplinary group-work, and to come up with their own concepts.
The course is conducted in collaboration between LMU Munich, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, and University of Augsburg and aims to explore and prototype physical artifacts. Students will focus on research topics such as "interactive/intelligent materials", "flexible/deformable interface materials", "shape-changing interfaces", and "ambient/peripheral interfaces". We encourage students to participate that have a high interest in prototyping with hardware (e.g., Arduino), working with unconventional materials (e.g., silicone), or using traditional fabrication techniques (e.g., origami-folding).
The course will have a mix of lectures, seminar-style reading, practical exercises as well as a final project. As up to 10 students from each of the three Universities involved can participate, the course will be delivered via online teaching.
This course is co-taught by Dr. Ceenu George (Univ. Augsburg) and Beat Rossmy (MSc), Luke Harrington, M.A.Sc. (LMU). |
