Syllabus

LEARNING OUTCOMES

With a hands on approach this course invites students to experiment with sensor technologies, acoustic transducers, micro controllers and thus confront fundamental concepts and technical issues faced during the design of digital music environments. This course makes it possible for students to learn, explore and  experience physical interaction with sensor technologies and introduces some of the fundamental conceptual issues confronted by researchers/practitioners/instrument builders working in the areas of digital musical interaction.

Credits: 5

Schedule: 23.11.2021 - 10.12.2021

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Koray Tahiroglu

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):

CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):

Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):

Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Physical Interaction Design course aims to explore and investigate the tools, concepts and practices for planning and building new musical instruments and musical interactions with digital environments. The course focuses on music and sound as lenses to discuss approaches and methodologies for the creation of interactive installations, physical media/image/sound projects and artistic strategies for the creation of experimental musical compositions.

Assessment Methods and Criteria

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  The course consists of lectures, exercises, reading materials, tutoring individual or group works. Students will submit their documented project work and ~ 750 word learning diary, both grounds the course examination and final grade. Each student project work will be assessed with the following criteria: Design Values, Aesthetics and Originality; UI design and Production Values; Code Design Quality; Project Analysis - Depth of Understanding; Idea generation and implementation; and Presentation style.

Workload

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  The course will be taught using the Pure Data and BELA programming/microcontroller/board computer environments, accompanied by short readings. Physical Interaction Design course is a project-based course. In addition to 36h of contact teaching, at the end of the course, students will submit and present their projects. 

DETAILS

Study Material

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  books:

  Bodies in Technology by Don Ihde

  Designing for Interaction: Creating Innovative applications and Devices by Dan Saffer,

  The Resonant Interface: HCI Foundations for Interaction Design by Steven Heim,

  Handmade Electronic Music:The art of Hardware Hacking by Nicolas Collins,

  Where the Action Is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction by Paul Dourish.

Substitutes for Courses

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Substitutes for Courses

Prerequisites

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Prerequisites

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Keywords:

  physical interaction design, sound, new instruments, embodied interaction, NIME, gestures, data processing, sensors, microcontroller, BELA, electronics, dataflow programming language, experimental interaction.

  Teaching Period:

  2020-2021 Autumn II

  2021-2022 Autumn II

  Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=DOM-E5043

  Registration for Courses: Sisu replaces Oodi on 9 August, 2021. Priority order to courses is according to the order of priority decided by the Academic committee for School of Arts, Design and Architecture: https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/registering-to-courses-and-the-order-of-priority-in-aalto-arts

  sign-up through Weboodi, latest 1 week before the first day of the course

  The order of priority for admitting students to courses at Aalto ARTS 1.1.2018 onwards (approved by The Committee of Arts, Design and Architecture on 10.10.2017)

  The order of priority is as follows:

  1. students for whom the course is compulsory for their major/programme and who have scheduled it for the current academic year in their personal study plan (HOPS);
  2. exchange students for whom the course is a part of his/her officially approved learning agreement and scheduled to be taken during the current semester;
  3. students for whom the course is compulsory for their major/programme and who have not completed it yet;
  4. students, for whom the course is part of his/her major s or programme s alternative studies and has been scheduled in the student's PSP (HOPS) for the current academic year
  5. students, for whom the course is part of his/her major s or programme s alternative studies and who have not completed the requisite number of credits for alternative studies yet;
  6. students for whom the course is compulsory for their minor;
  7. students, for whom the course is part of his/her minor subject s alternative studies and who have not completed the requisite number of credits for alternative studies yet;
  8. students who have applied for the course through a student mobility scheme (internal mobility within Aalto University, flexible study right (JOO) studies etc.);
  9. other students.

   

  Courses that are intended to be multidisciplinary (e.g. UWAS courses) may apply an order of priority based on the learning outcomes of the course, while bearing in mind the university obligation of enabling students to complete their degrees within the normative duration of study set for the degree. The order of priority does not apply to courses organised by the Centre for General Studies or doctoral courses.

  This decision on the order of priority does not influence the right of the teacher to define prerequisites for the course.

   

Description