A workshop focused on “computer vision” and pattern-recognition software to control on-screen emulation of everyday devices, where students will be able to prototype a physical interface. The interface, realized as a controller for devices or services, will use pattern-recognition for implementations of physical knobs and buttons.

Just like the musical tool Reactable, which incorporates pattern-recognition to control sounds and audio effects, this workshop will be directed to create substitute interfaces for devices such as: TV, Radio and Audio devices; or for services like browsing Flickr’s photos, YouTube’s videos and I-tunes on local machines. Based on “Reactivision”, students will make use of a platform created by Nastypixel as a rapid prototyping tool. This tool enables students to swiftly mold interfaces for a wide variety of purposes. Since our workshop is short in time - students will create mock-ups such as a visual downscale model for the computer screen, showing the behaviour of such physical devices as they would actually function. Alternatively, students will learn to “hack” physical interfaces (like TV remote controls) and adjust their behaviour from the computer. As open-source methods of development become a new standard, students will literally open up the makings of interfaces to expose their mechanisms of operation. Combining both physical and conceptual interface ideas, students will learn ways to rapid prototype their ideas in the future.

Focusing on digital media, and in particular digital music, the idea of SMO’s was born. SMOs are musical objects which enable new ways of interacting with digital music. In the world of the near future, where our digital life resides completely in the “cloud”, we theorize that hard drives will become obsolete and all we’ll be carrying are interactive ID cards, representing not our physical selves, but our segmented digital selves. An SMO thus represents my “music self”.
Those objects can bring social media to the table, literally.

The approach “learning by making” allows students to produce real hand-on prototypes and to learn how to design innovative pattern of interactions and user interfaces in context in which physical world and digital media are interconnected.Considering the peculiarity of the workshop no more then 12 students will be admitted to participate. Students from all programs (bachelor, master, PhD) can participate by applying through a motivation letter (few lines that motivate the interest to participate at the workshop) to this email tec-lab [at ] lu.unisi.ch with the subject “Physical Interface design”. Deadline for the application request is September 18th, 2008.

Outcome

Participants:

Fercu Michael
Yehia Amr
Aida Aidka
Keikha Mostafa
Hwang Yoon Nam
Stefania Lorenzi
Viviana D’Angelo
Shelley Mannion
Amalia Sabiescu
Matteo Agosti
Alberto Terragni
Ahmadi Navid

Stefano Vaghi
Tommaso Perego
Marcello Campagna

host:
Prof. Mehdi Jazayeri, Prof. Paolo Paolini, Dr. Elisa Rubegni
Seminar given by Yaniv Steiner.

dates:
September 25th-27th, 2008
Thursday, September 25th, 2008 (10.00 am – 6.00 pm)
Friday , 27th, 2008 (10.00 am – 6.00 pm)
Saturday, 27th, 2008 (10.00 am – 2.00 pm)

University of Lugano, room 139, Main building Via G. Buffi 13