Instructor:
Jeff Feddersen
email: fed@zaftig.org
url: www.zaftig.org/pcomp

Office Hours:
Wednesdays, 11-2, Adjunct Office

Course Description:
[ H79.2301.01 ] This course expands the students' palette for physical interaction design with computational media. We look away from the limitations of the mouse, keyboard and monitor interface of today's computers, and start instead at the untapped expressive capabilities of the the human body. We consider uses of the computer for more than just information retrieval and processing, and at locations other than the home or the office. The platform for the class is a microcontroller, a single-chip computer the size of a postage stamp, programmed using BASIC. The core technical concepts are digital, analog and serial input and output. Students have weekly assignments to build skills with the microcontroller and related tools, and a midterm and final assignment in which they apply the principles from weekly assignments in a creative application.

Physical Computing Homepage

Lab Assignments:
There are short lab activities for nearly every class in the semester. Their purpose is to introduce basic technical details and principles discussed in class, and as such represent a minimum requirement. The ideal student will go beyond/outside the lab to incorporate the information into a more creative application of their choosing, and may continually integrate the weekly work into a longer-term project.

Each class, a few people will be randomly choosen to show what they have been working on in the lab. We will not look at everyone's project every week, but everyone will show work from the lab at least a few times during the semester.

Technology Research:
Each week a team of students will present novel research into new sensing, output or communication technologies. For example, sensors could include touch-, proximity-, and force-sensors, etc.; output research could focus on drive motor controllers, video manipulation chipsets, or audio devices which can be addressed from a microcontroller; infrared or RF wireless communication techniques might be dissected. Presentations should be approximately 10-15 minutes in length. Their purpose is to introduce your classmates to various technologies that they may employ in future projects and develop a body of tools for your own work. A demonstration or prototype employing the technology should be created if possible. The presentation must be accompanied by a website which archives your research and links to further information.

A few suggested topics are available online.

Journal & Documentation:
You will be expected to keep an online journal of your work in this class. The purpose of the journal is two-fold. First, it is a valuable way for you to communicate to me that you are keeping up with the work in the class. I will look to the journals to see how students are doing, and the journal should be updated regularly throughout the semester. At a minimum, reference to each week's work is expected, as well as thorough documentation of the midterm, final, and tech research projects.

Second, the journal is a place for you to showcase your work. While the journal need only be text (here is a template), the inclusion of well documented rich media such as images, audio or video, will make future efforts to document or present your works much easier. Good journals may also function as resources for other students.

Midterm and Final:
Every student will complete a midterm project and a final project, an original application of some of the principles covered in class. Students may work alone or in groups. If you work in a group, every member of the group will be expected to know how the whole project works, and to explain the work that both you and your partner or partners have done on the project.

Final projects will be shown in class. You must be able to set your project up, demonstrate it in action, and take it down in class.

Midterm Paper:
Your midterm paper is essentially a longer journal entry, a review of your thoughts on physical interaction at that stage, and a discussion of issues related to it that most interest you. Bring in material from any of the readings for this entry as well, or your own readings, as appropriate. Length: approx. 1000 words.

Grading:

• Participation & Attendance: 15%
• Lab Assignments: 15%
• Technology research: 15%
• Journal: 20%
• Midterm: 15%
• Final: 20%

Parts:
A list of parts needed for the first few weeks follows. You will end up spending money on materials in this class. It can be done reasonably inexpensively, by scavenging parts, reusing parts, and so forth, but more ambitious projects inevitably make demands on your budget.

Books:
Below are recommended texts for the course in general. All of them are good inspirational guides for physical computing and computing in general. They are not assigned, but pick up at least one of them and incorporate it in your midterm journal.

The Design of Everyday Things, Donald A. Norman ©1990 Doubleday Books; ISBN: 0385267746
If you design at all, or work with people who do, read this. A lucid approach to the psychology of everyday interaction and how the objects we deal with could be better designed to match the strengths and weaknesses of the way we think. His predictions about physical interaction design and information design, some accurate and some not, are interesting history lessons eleven years after the first edition.

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, Charles Petzold ©1999 Microsoft Press; ISBN: 0-7356-1131-9
In spite of being published by Microsoft, this is one of the best and most readable books on computing I've encountered. Petzold starts with the technology of the telegraph and builds a modern computer from the ground up. In the end our digital technology is clarified and demystified while seeming all the more incredible.
http://www.charlespetzold.com/code/index.html

Understanding Interactivity, Chris Craw ford, ©2000
Self-published and written in a very casual style, this book nevertheless is an excellent and concise summary of what interaction design is, why it is important, and what problems it brings with it. Anyone seriously interested in interaction design, physical or not, should read this book.

Reference material:
The following are good references for electronics hobbyists. Take a look at both, and get one or the other as a general reference, or find an electronics reference of your own (a few more are listed in the books section of the site).

Getting Started in Electronics, Forrest M. Mims III, ©1983, Forrest M. Mims III
A very basic introduction to electricity and electronics, written in notebook style. Includes descriptions of the basic components and what they do, and how they relate to each other.

Practical Electronics for Inventors, 1st Edition. Paul Scherz, ©2000, McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing; ISBN: 0070580782
A more in-depth treatment of electronics, with many practical examples and illustrations. An excellent reference for those comfortable with the basic topics. The use of plumbing systems as examples to demonstrate electric principles makes for some very clear illustrations of how different components work. Good chapters on sound electronics and motors as well.

A longer list of books for inspiration and reference is available online at the books link.