Introduction to Physical Computing
Thursdays 6:30pm - 9:00pm
H79.2301.05 - Fall 2003

- Course Description
- The ITP Physical Computing Homepage
- Links to (nearly) all things Physical Computing
- Recommended reference and reading material
- Student Journals

Stuff to Get:

- Parts you'll need for Intro. to Physical Computing
- A useful starter toolkit
- Parts, suppliers and part numbers of some items in the lab
- Parts sold at the NYU computer store:
(242 Greene Street. Phone: 212.998.4672)

Class topics and assignments by week:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8
- midterm -
9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - Thanksgiving - 13 - 14

Office hours

7:30pm - 9:00pm Tuesdays or by appointment.
Schedule appointments by e-mail

 

Note: This page contains links out to some of the extensive Physical Computing resources on the ITP website rather than reproducing their content here...

Students enrolled in this course should bookmark this page and check back weekly as information is subject to change.

This page has been "cobwebbed". Some links may no longer be available and will not be updated.

Look to other references for the latest information about Physical Computing Courses.

Course Description

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.

 

Lab Assignments:

There is a lab activity for nearly every class in the semester. Some of them are very short, some are more detailed. Most are just the basic steps you need to go through to understand the principle discussed in class. From there, you should come up with an application of the lab's principles. I expect that each student will at least complete the steps outlined in the lab activity each week. Each class, a random number of people will be picked 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 two to three students will present a new physical sensing or output technology. Sensor examples include specific touch sensors, proximity sensors, force sensors, and so forth; output examples could include various drive motor controllers, video switching, fading, or tracking devices, or audio devices which can be addressed from a microcontroller. This should be a quick 5 - 10 minute presentation. Think of these presentations as a way to introduce your classmates on various technologies that they may be able to use in future projects, and to develop a body of tools for your own work. If possible, you should demonstrate the technology as part of your presentation, or part of another project. Research projects should be accompanied by an online report with links. A few suggested topics are available online.

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.

 

My Notes:

Top

Student Journals:

Luibomir Borissov

Neil Buttermore

Christina Goodness

Keledy N Kenkel

Brendan Kenny

Morekwe Molefe

Kyle Outlaw

Mattia Romeo

James Tunick

Pete Vigeant

Alyssa Wright

Journal & Documentation:

You will be expected to keep an online journal of your work in this class. Think of it as a letter to the next group to take this class: the tricks you found that work, the pitfalls you hit, ways around them, sources for materials, reference material, etc. It can be no-frills HTML, no pictures necessary, just notes. No flash, shockwave, or other sites that are not text-searchable, please. Here's a template you can use. Ideally, it will give you a head start on documenting your projects for future portfolio reference, and those who come after you a place to look for advice.

A journal entry is part of the assignment for each project you do, at the least. Feel free to do more entries as you see fit. These will be added as links to the class site.

Work on this as you go, don't put it off until the end. Your fellow classmates will find your notes as useful too.

See the HTML template with areas you should consider for each project.

You should document your projects thoroughly. Plan in advance, and perhaps as a group, to have what you need to document at least your midterms and finals. Photos, video, drawings, schematics, and notes are all valuable forms of documentation.

A few good recent sample journals:
- Lisa Cohen
- Ray Cha
- Sasha Harris-Cronin (see the Constructions link)
- Jen Lewin's Blueink site
- Kari Martin
- Many others

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%

My Notes:

You have the option of using Moveable Type as a way of recording you journal. More details to as they become available...

I find journals challenging, but especially crucial. If you don't document it then it never happened.

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. Individual instructors may have their own recommendations as well. 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, if nothing else.

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.

The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size
Tor Nørretranders ©1998 Viking Press; ISBN: 0670875791
Makes the case that much of our experience of the world does not come to us through our consciousness; in fact, the majority of it dealt with pre-consciously.

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.

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.
   

Class Topics

Presentation

- Name, background, previous convictions, that sort of thing.
- What is Physical Computing?
- Digital vs. Analog

Assignments for next week

- Join the PhysComp listserv
- Start your journal
- Technology Research
- Acquire parts needed for first lab assignment
- Pick up the reading packet from the book store
- Read Buxton "Less is more, More or less"

 

Presentation

- Introduction to Electronics: Definition of components, reading a meter, reading a schematic, Ohm's Law
- Soldering

Assignments for next week

Lab Assignment: Electronics
- Reading for week 3: Myron Krueger, "Responsive Environments", in Packer & Jordan, Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, ch. 12, pp104-120.

Presentation

- Microcontrollers: what they are, different types, levels.
- Intro to BX-24
- BX-24 programming
- Digital Input and Output

Assignments

- Begin Technology Research projects
- Lab Assignment: first BX-24 program
- Reading for week 4: Charles Petzold, Code, ch.7-9

 

Week 4
September 25th
Top

Presentation

- Memory and variables: Decimal, binary, hex.

Assignments

- Lab Assignment: tracking changes with variables; practical jokes
- Reading for Week 5: Crawford, Understanding Interactivity, chapters 1 and 2

 

Presentations

- Tech Research group 1
- Analog input, what an ADC is.
- Balancing Input and Output responsiveness

Assignments

- Lab Assignment: variable resistors and analog sensors
- Reading for Week 6: Norman, Design of Everyday Things, ch. 1

 

Presentations

- Tech Research group 2
- Transistors and Relays: switching higher-current devices
- Discuss Midterm

Assignments

- Lab Assignment: Turning on a motor 
- Reading for Week 7: Art links: pick ones that appeal to you, talk about them as physical computing works

Presentations

- Tech research group 3
- Analog output: Devices that create analog motion or sound.

Assignments

- Lab Assignment: servo
- No reading assignment: paper due next week

 

Presentations

- View Midterm Projects

Assignments

- Midterm journal entry due
- Reading for Week 9: Petzold, Code, ch. 20

 

Presentations

- Tech research group 4
- Serial output: Sending bytes out
- Serial interpretation: ASCII

Assignments

- Lab Assignment: getting the bytes to a terminal program
- Reading for week 10: Nørretranders, User Illusion, ch. 6, "The Bandwidth of Consciousness"

 

Presentations

- Tech research group 5
- Serial to desktop: Into Director

Assignments

- Lab Assignment: Talking to Director
- Reading for week 11: Hoffman, Visual Intelligence, ch. 7, pp.172-184

Presentations

- Tech research group 6
- MIDI and other control protocols

Assignments

- Lab Assignment: Talking to a MIDI device

 

Presentations

- Tech research group 7
- Serially controlled devices (motormind B, mini SSC, LCD)
- Discuss final project

Assignments

- Lab Assignment: Controlling an external device

 

Eat Turkey (or Tofurkey)

Presentations

Final Project Workshop/Presentation

Presentations

Final Project Presentation

Happy Holidays