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The course runs from 22.10.25 - 27.11.25, from 9.00 - 17.00. SeeTimetablefor more detailed hours.
Overview and Objectives
Our body is our interface with others: humans, non-humans, nature, infrastructure, machines.... We interact with the world through our senses, our mind, our limbs, our movements, our emotions.... We constantly leave traces, visible or invisible, conscious or unconscious... In turn, the world around us impacts our selves, shapes our perceptions; technology transforms our physicality, provides body extensions; materials mediate our experiences, etc. Measures of data can reveal the wide spectrum of movements and presence, capturing forms of attention to ourselves and our environment.
And yet, the body is not often addressed as a primary factor in designing interactive experiences. This course proposes in turn to put the physical body at the center point of our ideation - in a literal way, by designing on it, with it, for it, because of it.
What if we could design a body extension and a movement that reveals some of these interactions and that alters the physical world?
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Design factors should include:
• a starting point of your design: perception, story, movement, interaction, case study, sensor, tech, data, material, scarcity....
• material intimacy
• processes of fabrication
• data tracking & mapping / generative design / AI components
• wearability, extension, external or sensorial apparatus
• performative/corporeal/movements aspects
• interactive components
• political / environmental / societal context
Expectations and Gradings
Grades will be based on group presentations and exercises, class participation, documentation (journal) and final work.
Contributing to constructive group feedback is an essential aspect of class participation.
Attendance to inputs is required. Attendance to final presentation is required.
Two or more unexcused absences will affect the final grade. Arriving late on more than one occasion will also affect the grade.
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Any assignment that remains unfulfilled receives a failing grade.
Deliverables
Collection Exercise I: Analogue Data Collection
Look for sources of your personal body data in the real world. What traces do we leave behind that give us indications about our movements, interactions or emotions?
Be aware of the data you're collecting without intention. Or are you currently collecting data intentionally?
Is there a type of data that reveals something specific about your life, complex patterns of interactions with your environment? Can a short sample offer a nuanced reflection?
Your survey has to comprehend at least 6 hours of tracking and showcase a complex aspect of your entangled life (beyond a specific quantity tracking).
Think of questions you want to answer before you start tracking.Record videos or take photos to indicate and attempt to extract the data or reflect on it.
Represent that data in a performative way the day after.Presentation/performance: max 2 minutes - you can invite the audience to take part, use props, etc
Individual work
Collection Exercise II: Sensory and Listening Collection with accompanying Reflection
Collection Exercise III: Material Collection, Demo & Miro board info
In advance, select materials you want to experiment with: biomaterials, minerals, off-the-shelf, chemicals, liquids, growing, reactive, decaying, static, states, duration, texture, smell, taste, touch, etc
Bring them for a collective experimental day, list characteristics, qualities and behaviours and determine which interface and interactive experience could be derived from its properties - you will also demo how the material you chose can inspire an interaction, interface, experience..
As you present and demo properties, cover this info (add all the info on Miro board the day before the workshop - ADD sources - present a short selection):
-where the material comes from,
-how it has been extracted,
-by whom (labor involved),
-their lifecycle,
-their history,
-their trade (who exports, imports, with what tariffs, duties...),
-their legislation (what are the treaties legislating the trade & their consumption...),
-their price value,
-their exploitation (which companies are involved, fields...),
-their environmental impact
-their affordances
+rarity, waste, off-the-shelf, availability, function, unfunction, forms of fabrication, etc...
In-class Exercises, Reflections, Performances-analysis & Weekly progress reviews (bring iterated prototype/sketches/experiments for each mentoring)
Mid-Class Delivery: PDF showcasing concept, prototype & inspirations
PDF featuring texts and visuals: Overall Concept, Main directions, Inspirations/Related Work (references, authors, dates, visuals), Material inquiries, and PrototypeFinal Project: Interactive embodied fabricated apparatus
FInal version of your work iterated on for several weeks: an interactive embodied body apparatus / experience (wearable, fashion item, prosthesis, orthesis, prosthetics, implant, extension, external apparatus, architecture, etc) and showcase in a performance or situation how the apparatus influences movement & transforms interaction with oneself, others, environment, etc...
In groups of 2-4 students
Final Presentation & Performance: Students present with their group an Exhibition of Experiments & Performance/Situation with Final Prototypes together with an oral presentation.
Presentation on: 19.12.24
Documentation
A 'Journal' is developed by each group of students that reflects on experiments and learnings from the course. It should be in the form of an online blog (ie. WordPress, Tumblr or other):
The journal should be structured in a generally comprehensible manner
The lecture notes, including annotations, are stored
Notes, sketches for each lesson should be included as well
Final Documentation per usual guidelines: title, authors, abstract, hi-res pics, PDF with commentary text, video documentation (see Wiki)
Course outline
Student Teams & Journals
Group 1: Ege & Elia
JournalGroup 2: Anja, Tara, David, Andy, Jeanne
JournalGroup 3: Irina, Tanja, Luca, Elias
JournalGroup 4: Jin, Sonja, Cyril, Laberi
Journal
Journals Readings
Embodied Interaction: Exploring the Foundations of a New Approach to HCI
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https://issuu.com/pabloherrera/docs/algorithmicmodelling
Related Projects (small selection)
Visualisation
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https://driesdepoorter.be/thefollower/ (Revealing hidden information)
https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/ (data experienceable)
Tools and Software
Rhino 6.0 Trial for Windows or Rhino 5.2 for Mac (90 Day test license) including Grasshopper
Skanect (3d scanning with kinect)
Meshmixer (editing meshes)
Tools available: 3D printer (Ultimaker, Delta, Cetus, Single-line), laser cutter, foam cutter, wire bender, photogrammetry....
Additional Tutorials & References
Rhino and Grasshopper basics workshop
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Textile laboratory ZHdK
https://intern.zhdk.ch/?materialbezug
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